Meiji Swordsmen Tales
by beamknight87
Summary: A collection of stories of swordsmen passing through the Meiji era.
1. The Rise of a Demon

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all of its characters are property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

**Rurouni Kenshin – Meiji Swordsmen Tales**

**Chapter 1: The Rise of a Demon**

March 30th 1868

It was hot.

That was the first thought he had once he regained consciousness.

Then the massive pain followed.

It felt as if his entire his body was on fire, and the temperature was so high he was certain his innards would melt. He violently struggled in the floor, trying with his hands to put down the flames that were consuming his body from the inside, obviously to no avail.

Was this what his victims felt when he used his _Homura Dama_ against them?

Even the air became unbearable hot the moment it went to his lungs. For a brief moment, he even thought steam and smoke was coming out of his nostrils, just like a dragon would do before spitting out a stream of fire from his mouth.

Despite the massive pain he was feeling at that moment, that mental image made him grin.

Yes.

He was strong. Just like a fire-breathing dragon.

Against all logic and common sense, he was still alive.

This single fact occupied his mind, which strangely, felt extremely calm despite the protest of every nerve in his body. The more he pondered on it, the more the physical pain started to recede, allowing him to slowly recover his senses.

He began to remember what had happened and how a mistake on his part had reduced him to this sorry state.

The bitter taste of having been betrayed by his own comrades began to turn into rage. The immense fury began to make the physical pain insignificant to him.

Katsura and Okubo.

Yes, he was certain they had been the masterminds behind this failed and treacherous assassination attempt. They had been plotting at his back to get rid of him now that the victory of the _Ishin-shishi_ over the _bakufu_ was certain. The battle of Toba-Fushimi of two months ago had been the turning point of the war and thanks to it; the Tokugawa regime was finally in a hopeless, desperate defensive position, unable to do anything but wait for the _Ishin-shishi_ to reach Edo and topple once and for all the decrepit regime.

He should have noticed earlier the intentions of his comrades considering how petty the battle at the Tokugawa stronghold of Kofu had been. Yesterday, while a small squadron of Imperial forces occupied the stronghold, one of the last stubborn fortifications that refused to accept the inevitable change that came with the flow of time, the main bulk of the army headed to the nearby town of Katsunuma, outnumbering the shogunal forces 10 to 1. The outcome of the battle was obvious before it even started.

And despite this, Katsura and Okubo themselves, two of the main figures of the Revolution, had asked him to perform this particular job, reason why he could not refuse if he wanted to keep gaining their favor thanks to his skills. His assignment had been to kill the single _bakufu_ officer that tried to flee the castle in the confusion of the battle. It had been an extremely easy job despite the fact that one of the most famous commanders of the Shinsengumi, none other than Kondō Isami, came out of nowhere and tried to fight to prevent him from committing his deed. Nevertheless, one of the last Wolves of Mibu was exhausted and wounded from the battle at Katsunuma and barely escaped with life from the encounter with his flaming sword.

Lying on his back, his blurred vision began to focus again, the blinking stars in the dark sky greeting him from above. The pain was still there, and he was sure it would never completely go away, but it was becoming bearable for his body to endure it. A little more and he would be ready to decide what would be his next step.

He smirked when he thought once again of the idiotic panting fool that tried to challenge him with an extremely poor form of the _Hiratsuki_ attack. Isami was in far worse condition than he thought at first when he saw him performing the trademark attack of the Shinsengumi in such a crude fashion. Blocking such horrid attack would have been a disgrace for his honor as a swordsman, reason why he simply played a little with the now toothless dog for his enjoyment.

Isami didn't take long to notice he was being simply toyed with, reason why with a curse, he retreated and escaped in the darkness of the night. The Hitokiri at the service of Chōshū could have killed him, perhaps he should have done so just to put the man out of his misery, but seeing how his stubbornness was almost that of a fanatic, he deliberately let the fool go. Had Isami been at his prime, he would have gladly taken his head. But instead he could only see a poor, confused man, fighting in the losing side of the war, reason why he decided that the once prideful Shinsengumi commander was not worth to taste his blade.

And become his food.

That encounter had been disappointing considering the thrill and excitement of the violence that had engulfed the streets of Kyoto not too long ago.

He now realized that not killing Kondō Isami in that moment had been the mistake that almost cost him his life.

He had been pondering so intensely on how exciting his battle could have been with that man had he been in perfect condition, that he let his guard down for a moment and only noticed the arc of the blunt weapon right when it was only millimeters away from his eyes.

They had been waiting for him, hidden behind the corner of the Kofu stronghold where he was supposed to turn in order to reach the settlement where Katsura and Okubo were waiting for him. Instead, someone greeted him back swinging what felt like a steel hammer in the forehead.

At least his attacker had not gone unscathed he thought sourly. He had managed to cut down the mongrel with his _Homura Dama_ and heard a shriek that assured him that the bastard surely received a mortal wound before letting the darkness take him away.

Judging by the horrible smell that filled his nostrils with each air intake, he was sure they had tried to burn him down to ashes, surely as some sort of poetic justice given the nature of his sword techniques, which left only charred corpses behind.

His current situation was due to a mistake of his part.

A mistake he would make sure to never commit again.

Still, he was sure those morons feared him. A lot. If not, why had they not even dared to shoot him or slice his throat while he was unconscious? Had they thought he would come back to life in that moment to kill them for using such a dirty trick to get rid of him?

That, he decided, was the fatal mistake those morons committed. And he was going to fully exploit it to his advantage in order to get revenge.

Yes. The _Mugenjin_ he stole from the master swordsmith Shakku Arai not too long ago was going to soak in the blood of those who betrayed him, sharpening the blade and his technique even further.

The literally, smoking swordsman, finally recovered the strength to stand up. He absurdly noticed that he was naked since his gi and hakama were gone, as they had become ashes but he didn't care. However, despite his newfound strength brought by the thoughts in his head to bring retribution to his former comrades, trying to incorporate was almost impossible to do so, since his limbs cried in excruciating pain at the most minimal effort.

Despite that, he managed to stand up.

He noticed he was in the middle of a clear spot in a forest, not too far away from the Kofu fortress. Most probably they had carried him to this place before setting him on fire. His vision blurred for a second and for a moment, he was sure he was going to faint again. Knowing that letting sleep claim him again would surely be fatal, he gritted his teeth and using nothing but his force of will, he forced himself to stay awake.

He was thirsty.

Looking around, he realized the pale moonlight was reflected somewhere in the forest, not so far away from him. That could only mean that a body of water was there and it could serve him to quench his thirst.

He slowly began to walk in that direction, each step requiring a titanic effort.

As he walked, he reproached himself and cursed. Perhaps his intentions had become way too clear, more than he actually expected. Lately, every time he received a black envelope, not only did he kill _bakufu_ officers with brutal efficiency, he also tended to eliminate everyone else in the surroundings in a burst of flames, be police units, Shinsengumi members, women and even children. He did not care. He loved the intoxication of power he always got from wielding his sword.

After all, the flesh of the weak was the food of the strong.

He finally reached a pond and kneeling in front of it, he closed his eyes for the exhaustion. Forming a cup with his hands he brought the cool water to his mouth over and over again in quick motions.

The water, he noticed, was strangely warm in his throat.

If you are strong you live. If you are weak you have no choice but to die.

That had always been his philosophy and what had managed to keep him alive in this cruel world, making him stronger than everyone else. Yes, he surely was even stronger than the infamous Hitokiri Battousai.

He frowned, both because of the hot water in his mouth and the thoughts he was having of his predecessor, who had managed to, unintentionally, get the fame and glory he had always longed for.

The irony, according to Kogoro Katsura, when he sought him in order to substitute Battousai as an assassin of the shadows for Chōshū, was that his first Hitokiri didn't want such glory and intended to be an anonymous sword. Nevertheless, his skills and the fear he inspired in the hearts of the men of the _bakufu_ had been enough to turn him into some kind of celebrity. Hitokiri Battousai became even more famous when Katsura himself appointed him to directly fight the Shinsengumi in Kyoto through guerrilla warfare.

It had been downright ridiculous, to the point that half of the Shinsengumi and other police units of the _bakufu_ patrolled Kyoto every night with the sole intention to cut down the red-headed demon with the cross shaped scar in his face who had been decimating their units ever since he reappeared in the frontlines after a strange period of absence. The fame Hitokiri Battousai had gained was so great, that virtually all of the most prized swordsmen of the _bakufu_, who were supposed to be hunting and cutting down more _Ishin-shishi_ after the success of the Shinsengumi in killing Sakamoto Ryōma not too long ago, seemed to be blinded by the feral thought that one of them would be able to bring the demon down.

Perhaps Kondō Isami and Hijikata Toshizō had taken Battousai's affront personally and instead of defending the Shogunate, they only wanted revenge.

And yet, to his surprise and disappointment, he had heard that Battousai had simply vanished after the battle of Toba-Fushimi of two months ago, which only added more fame and glory to his name. It was a shame actually. He had wanted to meet him, at least once.

And prove that he was stronger.

Some said he had been sent in a secret mission, to kill none other than Yoshinobu Tokugawa. Others said he went mad after killing so many and committed _seppuku_. What everyone was sure about was that no one could have killed him. The red-headed demon was simply invincible and if he died, it would have to be because of his own hand.

He once inquired Katsura about his predecessor, but the leader of Chōshū refused to say anything about it, despite the rumors that said that he had been the last man Battousai had talked to before disappearing.

The fact was that Battousai had become a symbol of hope for the _Ishin-shishi_, as that single man had been able to survive against the toughest odds only with his sword and the sole mention of his name was enough to fill with the terror the hearts of the oppressive men of the Bakufu. However, now that the man had vanished, he finally became legend, and the _Ishin-shishi_ were now strong enough to fight the shogunate without having to resort to him as their hope for victory.

Once his burning throat was satisfied, he pondered on the situation.

The _bakufu_ was finished. It was only a matter of time before the regime crumbled under the might of the Chōshū-Satsuma-Tosa alliance. Its victory at Toba-Fushimi had prompted many other domains that had remained neutral so far to declare themselves in favor of the Emperor and offered military support to the alliance to prove their new loyalties. Sadly for him, his wounds would take a long time to heal and by the time he recovered, the war would have long been over.

His reflection in the water was suddenly illuminated by the moonlight, as the clouds were lifted by a sudden gust of wind, leaving him momentarily stunned.

His grossly deformed face greeted him back. He even noticed that all of his hair including his eyebrows and eyelashes were gone, leaving nothing but his bright red eyes staring intensely at himself, like two burning pieces of fire.

Fire that came straight from Hell, he thought with a grin.

Instead of cursing, he began to laugh loudly, like a maniac and finally, submerged his right fist with a punch in the cold water surface the pond, all the way to his elbow, erasing his reflection from the liquid surface.

A sizzle and the vapor than immediately began to rise from the water due to his extremely high corporal temperature just made him grin further.

This was only going to be a short delay for the inevitable.

Yes, the Chōshū-Satsuma-Tosa alliance was going to be victorious and they would become the new masters of Japan, after expelling the Tokugawa after two and a half centuries of iron rule.

Nevertheless, he knew all the weaknesses of the new government before it was even formed, as he had carefully studied Katsura and his companions, Saigō and Okubo, and could read them all like open books. That knowledge and all the assassinations he had committed on their behalf would become his triumph card to control them. He only had to wait for the right moment to strike. Meanwhile, he would focus in recovering and regaining his strength to finally claim what he swore was going to be his; ever since he picked up a sword.

Shishio Makoto once again began to laugh with a feral grin. He would rise from the ashes to become the bane of those who tried to get rid of him because of the fear he inspired in their hearts and minds. He would come back like a demon straight out of Hell, bringing a cold, ruthless vengeance with him.

It would take some years, eight, perhaps ten. But it didn't matter. Now, he had plenty of time. He could wait and make plans.

And once put them in motion, he would get rid of the fools that innocently thought he had been eliminated.

He would strike back and in a single, brilliant movement, Japan would be his!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Author notes:

Contrary to what you may think, this is not a story about Makoto Shishio (as much as I would like to write that, perhaps some other time), rather, think of these as interludes between some of the main scenes that the Rurouni Kenshin tale left unexplored, so you can expect a good amount of various characters to appear. I'm trying only to create a bridge between a series of events that I think deserved to be explored more by the Nobuhiro Watsuki but was not the case. Anyways, those would be no more than 10, so that's more or less the number of chapters you can expect from this series of "Tales".

I think that in order to write a decent Rurouni Kenshin story, you need to do some historical research in order to grasp the main events in which it takes place, as well as the setting and some of the motivations of the characters, so here are the facts I needed to check out for this chapter in order to write it.

*** Historical facts:

**The Battle of Toba-Fushimi**: it occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War. The battle started on January 27th 1868 and lasted 4 days, ending in a decisive defeat for the Tokugawa shogunate. As a result, the little prestige and morale the Tokugawa still had was seriously weakened, and many domains that had remained neutral so far since the conflict began, were finally convinced of the changes that Japan was going through and decided to support the Chōshū-Satsuma-Tosa alliance. After this battle, the fall of Edo soon followed with relatively very little bloodshed.

This is the last battle in which Kenshin participated as Hitokiri Battousai. Shakku Arai even scolds him from running away when he gives him the _sakabatō_ now that "the real battle was just only beginning" (with this line, Watsuki probably meant that the _Ishin-shishi_ would soon have to build a new government, a much harder feat than destroying the old one).

Nevertheless, the war did not end until June 27th 1869; one year later with the Battle of Hakodate, as some domains in the North of Japan, supporting the Aizu clan, continued to resist. During this course of events, Aizu was crushed by the Chōshū-Satsuma-Tosa coalition. It is during this period when Megumi Takani lost her family in Aizu for obvious reasons. The Battle of Hakodate marked the end of the old feudal regime in Japan, and the end of armed resistance to the Meiji restoration. By this time, Kenshin had been already wandering through Japan for 1 full year.

**The Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma**: it followed the one of Toba-Fushimi on March 29th 1868. This was the last significant military action in central Honshū during the Boshin War and the one that sealed the surrender of Edo Castle (marking the political end of the shogunate) the following year.

In chapter 55 of the manga, Kenshin deducts from Okubo's silence that Shishio was killed by his comrades during the Boshin War. I only considered appropriate on part of the _Ishin-shishi_ to try to get rid of Shishio after this last battle with which they had finally crushed the old government and were getting ready to establish a new one, so he could not blackmail them.

*** Character notes:

Kondō Isami: He was a Japanese swordsman and official of the late Edo Period, famed for his role as commander of the Shinsengumi. Saitō Hajime was part of Kondo's faction. He was defeated at the battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma, reason why I decided to use his brief intervention as the excuse that got Shishio distracted. Isami surrendered soon after and was beheaded at Itabashi, Tokyo on May 17th 1868 by the new government, formed mostly by the samurai of the Chōshū and Satsuma domains, accused of the murder of Sakamoto Ryōma.

Sakamoto Ryōma: He was a leader of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. He played the critical role to make possible alliance between the Chōshū and Satsuma provinces, which had always been bitter enemies. As an outsider from the Tosa domain, Ryōma played a critical role in bridging the gap in trust of the domains, thus forming the alliance that would topple the shogunate. He was murdered on December 10th 1867, at the Ōmiya inn in Kyoto, supposedly by Shinsengumi members for having formed the Chōshū-Satsuma union.

*** Glossary notes:

Bakufu: term which refers to the system of government of a feudal military dictatorship, exercised in the name of the shogun.

Ishin-shishi: literally translates as "men of high purpose". Usually applied to the anti-shogunate, samurai primarily from the southwestern clans of Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa

Seppuku: a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved only for samurai and was part of the samurai bushido honor code.


	2. The Decision

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all of its characters are property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

**Rurouni Kenshin – Meiji Swordsmen Tales**

**Chapter 2: The Decision**

December 20th 1877

It was going to be one of those days.

Yes, Kenshin Himura could feel it in the cold air that kept blowing in the Osaka Bay ever since he left Hyōgo Port two days ago.

Thanks to his training in the way of the sword, his instincts had unconsciously developed in such a way that he felt restless everytime something bad was about to happen.

He frowned everytime he got that feel.

It was like an unpleasant, unreachable itch that kept nagging him at the back of his mind, which was impossible to ignore until the danger passed.

Nevertheless, that involuntary sense of alarm that every first class swordsman developed was what saved him many times through the battles of a decade ago.

And kept doing so ever since he became a wanderer.

Oh sure, 90% of the time were rather dull days in which he kept going from one place to another aimlessly, occasionally staying at the outskirts of a village and helping people from the usual thugs and scum that kept behaving as if they were still living in the four-tier class system Kenshin had fought so hard to abolish.

But the other 10% were days in which someone recognized him as Hitokiri Battousai and tried to kill him, either for glory or for holding some kind of grudge against the _Ishin-shishi_ in general. Nevertheless, most of these cases were half-hearted attempts, with opponents who barely posed a real threat to him and that were quickly dispatched and wrapped up like presents for the local police forces.

Another sudden, violent gust of cold wind chilled his bones, shaking his hair wildly and forcing him to tighten around his neck the long shawl he used as a scarf.

The cloth was worn out by the constant use and its once pure white color was now faded, showing yellow tinges all over it, attesting that the fabric was rather old.

It was a rather curious accessory to be worn by a man, even more so considering the contrast it made with the swordsman's red hair. If examined closely, one could even spot a flowery pattern embedded on it…

The rapidly dropping temperature made Kenshin bring unconsciously his hand to the cross-shaped scar that decorated the left side of his face.

He hated the cold.

Said scar often ached with it, reminding him of that particular snowy day, almost thirteen years ago…

He stopped for a moment in the middle of the road and sighed, trying his best to keep away that particular memory at this moment. He gazed up at the sky that rose above him to try to get himself distracted, marveling at the infinite, bright blue color that extended as far as he could see and was reflected by the tranquil sea, as a giant mirror that was just as big.

The magnitude of both, the sky and the ocean made him realize that it had been almost ten years already.

In one month, his lifestyle as a wanderer would be ten years old.

An entire decade of wandering through Japan.

Almost an entire life had passed ever since he gave his farewells to Katsura and the master swordsmith Shakku Arai after the battle of Toba-Fushimi. Since then, he had been roaming the southwestern zone of Japan, going as far as Kagoshima, always following the coastlines of Honshū and Kyūshū in his journey.

Looking back, he honestly didn't think at that moment when his hands held for the first time the _sakabatō_ that now hung from the sash of his hakama that he would last this long.

But after so much time, Kenshin Himura lately was beginning to think this was rather stupid.

He was only running away.

From himself.

Yes, as a wanderer, he had helped many people through his journey during the past ten years. Often he was noticed and called upon since the sword he carried made him stick out like a flare. Some asked him to lend them his strength, others begged for it in order to undo the injustice that still prevailed in the country, mostly in very remote villages where people still lived in the past era.

However, many more avoided him like a plague precisely because of the object that hung at his sash, to say nothing of his unusual red hair, always whispering at his back, wondering if he did not know about the edict that prohibited carrying such weapons. He had learned the hard way that the help he wanted to provide with his reversed blade was rarely asked for, and even if he performed a good deed with it, it was frowned upon by the people, almost scolding him for doing so.

It couldn't be helped, Kenshin thought. After all, the country was still recovering from the great shock that was the Satsuma Rebellion…

When he learned of it, Kenshin couldn't help but to feel pity for the end that Saigō Takamori and his followers had, not to mention that it revealed a rather ugly and embarrassing facet of the Meiji government he had helped to establish with his sword.

That incident had helped him to realize that, unfortunately, some things simply couldn't change despite how much he desired it. He finally acknowledged the fool he had been back then when his master clearly explained it to him before they parted ways in disagreement.

Corruption, oppression, poverty, hunger…

Those were evils that still plagued the country and part of the reason why Saigō had risen against his former comrades.

He closed his eyes for a moment, the alarm ringing inside his head becoming louder and louder. He didn't need to open his eyes to notice it straight ahead of him.

The bloodlust.

The killing intent.

Around five… no, six people in total heading towards him at full speed. It would take a minute or less for them to be in sight.

He sighed. It definitely was going to be one of those days.

Normally, he would consider this a nuisance, but now he was thankful to whoever was coming to attack him for letting him get distracted from the thoughts with which he questioned not only his actions, but his entire way of life.

Kenshin snapped his thumb against the hilt of his sword, and it gave a resounding click.

He had been right. Six samurai he guessed due to their clothes and swords raised above their heads, were quickly approaching, their intentions clearly unfriendly. Judging by their wild hairs, beards and overall, unkempt appearance, they were probably unemployed samurai who had not been able to adapt to the changes of this new era.

Kenshin briefly considered the order in which he would take them out but noticed at the last second that their anger was not directed at him.

"Out of the way, shrimp!" shouted a tall man that was obviously the leader. He was at the front of the group and quickly ran past him, shoving him aside with his shoulder.

"Move it, shortie!" snickered a short, plump man carrying a _naginata_ who was in the rear. His bald head was sweating profusely due to the exercise. A mere glance at his body made obvious that he was not used to this kind of activity.

"Oro?" Kenshin was genuinely surprised. It was the first time that a bunch of disgruntled thugs didn't want a piece of him. He stupidly stood there, frozen in the middle of the road while the cloud of brown dust raised by the group of quickly advancing samurai covered him, making him cough.

Turning around, Kenshin noticed that the samurai stood around ten meters behind him, forming a semicircle and obstructing the road for a carriage that was approaching and began to slow down once the driver noticed the attacking group. Kenshin decided it was a smart move from the driver because the vehicle was being pulled by a single horse and it wouldn't be able to trample the angry men that were obstructing the road.

The words that the leader of the group shouted once the vehicle stopped completely startled Kenshin.

"Katsu Kaishū! We know you are there! For your betrayal against your own samurai brethren, prepare to die! We will finish what Saigō Takamori started and bring Japan to a new era, first executing all the traitors like you!"

A roar of approval came from his five companions, all of them adopting battle gestures and showing quite the eagerness to dispatch said man with their weapons.

The face of the driver had gone ashen, as not surprisingly, he would surely suffer the same fate at the hands of these lunatics. He seemed to be seriously considering the option of forcing the men out of the way with the horse but what followed next left him frozen in the spot.

The door of the carriage opened and a short man calmly got down the vehicle. Kenshin instantly recognized him from the few times in which he accompanied Katsura as a bodyguard to various meetings with this man who would play an important role that made possible the Meiji Restoration. That ample forehead, small and intelligent black eyes and a rather handsome face made the man look much younger despite being already in his mid-fifties. He was dressed in Western clothes, wearing a dark brown three-piece suit although his black hair was oiled and tied in a small topknot just like a samurai would do. The result couldn't be less than contradictory, as the samurai were slowly withering away, perhaps even faster after the Satsuma Rebellion.

The short man gave a hard, long look to his attackers, who began to grow a little nervous by the behavior of their victim. It was obvious they were not expecting to be scrutinized in such way and thought the man in front of them would beg for his life, but it was definitely not the case. Perhaps they even thought there would be some excitement while chasing the carriage like a wild animal.

"Well now, this is a surprise. And an honor", he said, with a loud booming voice that startled the samurai in front of him. "It seems that there are still some who think so highly of me that they want my neck", he said with a short laugh, but his expression hardened again. "A mere look to you is enough to tell me you participated in Saigō's rebellion or at least, share the same point of view of his followers, am I wrong?" he asked, curiosity dripping from his words.

The group fell silent. Only the sound of the constant cold wind could be heard for a minute before Katsu continued.

"Such a great shame for him. I hope you understand that it was precisely, passionate but blind men due to their loyalty like you who forced him to have such a pitiful end and accomplish nothing with his death", he muttered in a sad tone. "I'm sure you understand that Saigō died to make a point to his followers that clung desperately to him and wouldn't listen: he never intended to lead that stupid rebellion in the first place and while I too agree with the fact that the current government is not without faults, it didn't need such tragedy just because some petulant blockheads like you want to still live in the past age", he angrily concluded.

The six men felt as is they had been slapped by the angry and confident words that their target just said, and their shock just grew further as Katsu kept talking.

"If you still believe yourselves to be samurai, I'm afraid to say that you are nothing more but a thing of the past who also need to adapt to survive", he declared.

The men looked dumbfounded to each other, none of them able to articulate a single word. Their declaration to execute Katsu of just minutes ago now seemed stupid and actually, rather childish.

Since no answer came from the men in front of him, Katsu sighed. "I see you have nothing to say. Then I have nothing to hear from you, so please allow me to continue and stop hindering the way", he said solemnly, however, when he was about to return to the vehicle, the man at the front of the armed group snapped, perhaps because Katsu's words carried a frustrating truth and a logic he couldn't deny and he had no way cope with that.

Howling like an animal, the leader of the samurai group that rejected this new Meiji era charged with his sword. The other five men soon followed their leader in the same fashion. Nevertheless, Katsu, instead of panicking, merely stood there, awaiting his destiny with all the calm and dignity of the world. What was amazing was that his calm aura had somehow enveloped the driver of the carriage, who was still pale but held his ground without moving a muscle.

Kenshin had seen and heard enough. Katsu's words carried a truth he suspected ever since he heard of Saigō's revolt, reason why he decided not to get involved at all in the affair. The words of the older man confirmed his assumptions and he decided that the least he could do was to save him. Besides, it was not like he could simply stand by and allow him to die before his very own eyes in the first place! Using his lightning speed, he quickly closed the distance and in split seconds, he was in front of the attackers, who came to a halt at his sudden apparition.

"I'm sorry, but this one can't stand the sight of six men simultaneously attacking a single, unarmed man, that I am. If you are looking for an opponent, then this one will gladly fight you", Kenshin said, his right hand already holding the handle of his sword.

"We'll kill you too then!" roared one of the samurai.

"Die, shrimp!" shouted another one.

That was more like it, Kenshin thought a little amused and drew his blade with a silver flash in a single _Battōjutsu_ move.

Three samurai fell instantly to the ground, unconscious before even touching it, leaving the other three and the driver of the carriage gaping in amazement. Much to his credit, the bald, fat man he saw earlier carrying the _naginata_ quickly reacted and tried to stab him with his long range weapon, but Kenshin expertly blocked the attack, closed the distance and countered executing a _Ryu Kan Sen_.

The bald man and another one of the warriors fell to the ground. Only the leader of the group was left. All he had seen so far had been a red and white whirlwind moving so fast it had been impossible to believe that this was the little man of a while ago. When he saw him at first he even thought he was a woman due to his hair color and little frame!

"W-What?" He managed to say looking upwards when the speed demon suddenly jumped in front of him.

The sudden shine of the Sun blinded him, leaving him completely open to Kenshin's _Ryu Tsui Sen_ in his collarbone, making him crash to the ground.

Kenshin really didn't give them a chance. The fight lasted no more than twenty seconds. Once he was sure all six men were unconscious, he calmly returned the sword to his iron sheath.

Turning around, Kenshin faced Katsu Kaishū once again after ten long years.

"It's been a while, Katsu-san", Kenshin said, giving the older man a slight bow. He was happy to see the recognition shine in the eyes of the Minister of the Navy in front of him.

Katsu had been surprised when he first spotted Kenshin once he got down from the carriage. He recognized that red hair instantly but didn't even blink when he wiped the floor with his attackers. He had had the privilege to see him fight a decade ago, so he wasn't surprised by how fast the former _Ishin-shishi_ was. He silently gave his thanks to Heaven for letting their paths cross; otherwise, he would be the one lying on the ground in a pool of blood…

He then heard one of the men groan in pain, but couldn't spot a single drop of blood. "So it is true", he said, giving a nod of approval, "Himura Battousai became a wanderer that doesn't kill" he stated.

Kenshin smiled unapologetically.

"Well then, we haven't seen each other in a good while. Don't just stand there like a moron. Come on, get in, I guess I can give you a ride to Osaka", Katsu said, gesturing him to approach and getting inside the vehicle.

"Oro?" Kenshin did as he was told, feeling a little uncomfortable in the seat he was not accustomed to.

Once he heard to door of the carriage close behind him, the driver quickly recovered after witnessing what he thought was impossible and shook the reins of the horse, more than eager to get away as fast as possible from there before those maniacs woke up, although judging by what he saw, that was not going to be anytime soon…

Despite his nervousness, he drove at regular speed. Heavens, one of his passengers was the legendary Hitokiri Battousai himself! His wife would not believe it!

OOO

Their first stop at Osaka had been the police department, where Katsu informed of his failed assassination attempt and explained in detail to the officers the place where he said, they would find the perpetrators ready to be taken into custody. The officer in charge there sweated profusely under the gaze of the Minister and informed him that he would take care of everything, going as far as assigning a few policemen to watch over his house indefinitely until they could assure his wellbeing. With that, Katsu returned to the carriage and decided to serve as a tour guide so Kenshin could see for himself some of the city.

As the carriage drove them through Osaka, Kenshin had been really surprised by the way Westernization had advanced so quickly in the city that was opened to foreign trade just ten years ago. The place was bursting with energy as Japanese and foreigners came and went. Osaka was quickly becoming an industrial and commercial center without precedent in the country.

He was especially amazed by the dozens of clippers and steamships that were anchored in the harbor, most of them belonging to foreign trade houses that came from different countries of Europe, the United States and China. He noticed with pride that some of the big merchant ships had the Japanese flag on their masts.

They arrived to their destination just before the dark. Kenshin deducted that this was Katsu's house. Much to his surprise, it was a very simple two story house that paled in comparison to the buildings in which some of the wealthiest merchants of the city lived.

"Cozy, isn't it?" Katsu said, perhaps noticing his surprise as he jumped out of the carriage. "By the expression of your face I bet you expected something more… luxurious, isn't it? Sorry to disappoint you, but I've always been a simple man and this is enough for me".

Kenshin's eyebrows rose slightly, as he watched Katsu give his farewell and instructions to the driver to pick him up tomorrow at midday. He felt somewhat uncomfortable under the gaze of the driver that kept staring at him so intensely he was sure he didn't heard Katsu at all.

Once the small vehicle parted, Kenshin and the older man looked at it for a minute, before it got lost in the sea of people of the bustling streets.

"Bah! That fool didn't even hear a word I said. Nowdays it is hard to find someone able to handle a little excitement, don't you think?" Katsu asked as he slid the door open and allowed Kenshin to enter first.

The red-headed swordsman refrained from answering because he didn't want to be rude. He was sure that nowdays the average people _definitely_ didn't find exciting the prospect of being killed by some discontent samurai.

As he entered the house, Kenshin found Katsu wasn't lying about being a man of simple tastes. The Minister of the Navy quickly lit the lamps placed in the corners of the room with a match stick, revealing his humble home.

What Kenshin saw was a medium-sized room with six _tatami_ tiles. At the back, there was massive bookcase as large as the wall against it was placed, its shelves so full of books in Japanese, but mostly of others in foreign languages, that it seemed ready to burst. In a corner there was some Western furniture, consisting of two richly decorated chairs and a large desk full of documents, papers and ink bottles. Kenshin deducted this was Katsu's office. To the left there was a small kitchen and the right led to the bathroom. He guessed that the stairs at the opposite corner of the desk led to a bedroom that was probably even simpler than this.

"Come on, make yourself at home. I'll prepare some tea", Katsu said while he headed to the kitchen.

Kenshin removed the sword from his sash, placed it on the floor next to him and sat on his knees, waiting patiently. He wasn't exactly sure what kind of discussion he would have with the older man, and he felt a little uncomfortable about the prospect of having to tell him what he had been doing during the last ten years and being ridiculized for it.

Fortunately, that was not the case. At least not yet since Katsu began the conversation on a completely different subject.

"Himura, I will assume that you are not that… versed regarding political affairs, but I'll ask you anyways. What do you think of Japan now?" Katsu said, bringing with him two cups of hot tea and sitting in front of the swordsman with his legs crossed.

Kenshin remained silent, pondering on the question for a while, elaborating his answer before he was finally satisfied with it. "This one thinks that the new Meiji era has clearly brought good to the people. Not only the class system is disappearing, meaning that any person can be recognized for having the same value as anyone else, but the people undoubtedly now can afford better lifestyles, not to mention the quick modernization and technology that the country is adapting, that it is. However, this one thinks that Japan should not throw away its identity and adopt without second thought all the culture and practices of the Westerners, that it is", he said, finally taking one of the cups Katsu offered and taking a sip.

Katsu nodded, sipping his own tea. "I agree with you, please continue".

"Nevertheless… this one can't help but to notice that many of the reasons why the _Ishin-shishi_ fought in the first place ten years ago still persist. Corruption and oppression… this one thinks that in general, we only removed the oppressors only to replace them with our own, that it is", Kenshin said the last words with a frown.

"And that makes you feel disappointed, doesn't it?" Katsu questioned, as if already expecting that reaction.

"Yes, the rebellion led by Saigo-san perhaps clearly expressed what this one is trying to say, that it is", Kenshin said, closing his eyes and taking another swig at the cup.

Katsu nodded in agreement. "I see, well I can't blame you for it, you are right. As I see it, the main problem is that this government is full of hotblooded retards that only want to demonstrate a force we don't have. As the Minister of the Navy I know that better than anyone else. There are very few capable men left in the government, Katsura's death a few months ago made me realize that, and I'm afraid that when they are gone, Japan maybe will lose its way", the concerned tone made Kenshin shudder a little but he said nothing and the two men sat silent for a moment.

"You know…" Katsu started once again after another sip of tea. "I met Katsura one more time before he passed away. We didn't really talk that much, because he couldn't afford it, but he had your same points of view regarding the Westerners and the evil that persists in the Meiji government. He was definitely one of the most intelligent men I've ever met, and someone who always saw the big picture. I'm going to ask you another question", Katsu suddenly looked straight into Kenshin's eyes. "What do you think about the idea of the survival of the fittest?"

The red-headed swordsman narrowed his eyes. He had heard that phrase before and couldn't help but to reject it with every fiber of his being due to the meaning behind it. "A world where only the strong survive and the weak cannot afford to do so is nothing but a complete heresy, that it is", he answered with a sharp tone, remembering that night when the man that would become his master found him and saved him from certain death.

"… I wouldn't be so sure about that", Katsu said, earning from Kenshin a rather hard look from his violet eyes. "You know, Katsura and I shared the same opinion as yours at first, but we quickly changed our minds when we went overseas and saw by ourselves how big the world really is. I may have spent only a very short time in the United States, but Katsura could afford to travel for a longer time and to many countries and he told me that when he returned to Japan, he realized it too", Kenshin noticed that the eyes of the Minister of the Navy seemed to be gazing something far away in his memories. "That was the exact reason why he was able to stop that foolish expedition to Korea the government was planning. Japan's international stand was, and still is, pretty weak. If it persists, the stronger foreign powers will not doubt to crush us as soon as they have the opportunity to do so", he concluded, his words disgusted by the bitter truth.

"I only want you to realize that you and your comrades fought to establish a new government that was supposed to bring changes in favor of the common people. It has certainly done so, but only to an extent and it has a long way ahead of it. Most probably I won't be alive to see that dream fulfilled, and probably neither you, but more importantly, if Japan can't find the strength it needs to contain the advance of the foreign powers through Asia, your sacrifice may have been for nothing", he concluded dramatically.

The words of the older man shocked Kenshin. A million of thoughts raced in his mind. Sure, he wasn't that aware of political affairs, much less of international scale, but was the situation really that bad? To the extent that everything he went through could end up being meaningless?

He couldn't accept it. Locking his gaze with Katsu's, he answered firmly. "This one believes that you don't need to trample the lives of others for acquiring that strength. This one is sure that Japan somehow, will prevail without resorting to such means, that it is".

The Minister of the Navy contemplated him for a long moment. "You are really different from him", he stated.

Kenshin looked at him confused, not understanding what he meant.

"Sorry, I'm just blabbering, but all this talk made me remember the one that Katsura referred to as your 'successor' during the war". Kenshin's heart skipped a beat at the mention of that man, but allowed Katsu to continue. "I only met him once when I held a secret meeting with Katsura before the Toba-Fushimi battle, but he agreed completely with the notion of the survival of the fittest. That fact surprised me and made me realize that Shishio Makoto was a dangerous man, and I'm not talking only about his skills with the sword, but rather, his ideals. He was your complete opposite and I'm sure that he would have led Japan through a path that would have make the people you fought for suffer even more than under the _bakufu_. Fortunately for everyone, he died ten years ago, right at the end of the Boshin War, when he tried to take on Kondō Isami's entire Shinsengumi unit by himself. I don't want you to misunderstand me, I'm not celebrating the fact that the man is dead, but I can tell you that Japan, and probably the entire world is a better place without him", Katsu said, his words sounding rather convincing.

Kenshin stared at his cup. So that had been the fate of Hitokiri Battousai's successor…

He couldn't think further about it when Katsu made him another question.

"That's why I think that unfortunately, the government desperately needs men like you, who are not lusting for power or personal benefit to act as the leaders we need, but since that is not your case due to your lack of interest… How long do you plan to keep running away? Mmm?" Katsu asked.

"Oro?" Kenshin choked on his tea, surprised by the question. He certainly was not expecting that forceful approach on such a touchy subject for him. He felt tempted to avoid the inquiry or force the topic to go to another subject using his best 'what are you talking about?' clueless smile but desisted the same moment he thought about using it.

Had he been that easy to read? Lately, that was exactly the thought that kept plaguing his mind over and over during the last year and was starting to fear the fact that he had no answer to it, making his efforts as a vagabond pretty much worthless.

Katsu continued after finishing his remaining tea in one big gulp. "Don't take me wrong. It is not that I'm criticizing you, Himura, but… you don't seem to think much about the future. In fact, I would dare to say that you are a man who lives stuck in the present, negating your past, but at the same time without even considering about what life will have prepared for you tomorrow, am I wrong?"

Kenshin hung his head, his throat dry, carefully thinking of an answer that could be satisfactory. Not only to Katsu, but also to him.

Lately, a growing part inside of him was getting tired of this. He had often thought about trying to grow roots somewhere, but while the thought was attractive, he knew that he would end up just like the samurai he fought against just this afternoon: as a man who only knew how to fight and couldn't do anything else. A pariah. Besides… he didn't even have the right to do it.

"This one…" Kenshin sighed and for once, decided to drop his silly speech. "Katsu-san, I know what you mean. I really do. In fact I've been thinking about it so much lately that I can't help but to feel confused. The guilt I carry is part of the reason why I've been wandering the country during the last decade, to atone for my sins as Hitokiri, doing what I can to help those in need with my sword. However, I begin to feel that my resolve is weakening, to the point of finding my attitude pointless. Besides, a man with my past can't easily just settle down, can he?" he said with a said smile. "Besides, I have no doubts that my past will finally catch me up and I don't know if I could handle seeing people getting hurt because of it". Surprisingly, Kenshin felt relieved after revealing his inner turmoil to the man that almost doubled his age. It was like extracting a poison that had been embedded deeply in his heart and part of him was hoping that the great Katsu Kaishū could give him some advice.

Katsu merely snickered. "Hearing from the man that was Hitokiri Battousai that he is afraid of something, is priceless". The older man gave a healthy laugh that slightly annoyed and confused Kenshin. "Listen to me Himura. You don't have to feel bad for doubting yourself. Many men do it all the time and you can be sure that the ten years you have spent directly helping the people with your sword is a feat very few in the country, and I would dare to say the entire world, could have achieved. You should be proud of that". Kenshin could see the honesty behind Katsu's eyes as he said those words, helping him to finally think the same, that he had indeed atoned plenty of his crimes as an assassin during the last ten years. He let the older man continue.

"I only want you to realize that Japan is still a young nation, and needs men like you. Not necessarily in the political arena if you are not interested on it, but maybe you could try to spread your ideals and help others to realize them and understand them, so they can implement them not only for their benefit, but also for the good of the country. Wouldn't that be satisfactory to you and your intentions with that sword?" Katsu inquired, gesturing at the reversed blade on the floor.

Kenshin kept silent, staring intently at the remaining tea in the cup that reflected his troubled face.

Since his guest was not answering, Katsu sighed, approached his desk and threw the redhead a newspaper from the pile of documents there, which the swordsman expertly caught with one hand automatically. A rather disturbing note was circled and highlighted with blank ink in a corner of the first page. Quickly reading it, Kenshin frowned deeply, noticing that it was from three days ago.

Katsu smiled a little, happy to see finally some reaction from Himura. "Perhaps you should go to Tokyo and check what this is about. Apparently, none other than Hitokiri Battousai suddenly appeared there and has been causing quite a ruckus lately. If I were you, I would take this as something personal", he said, trying to insinuate something he was sure the swordsman already had in mind.

"This old man will give you one last piece of advice you may want or not to hear, but I'll say it anyways. Don't be afraid of your past. If you truly want to stop running away from yourself then face it, conquer your inner demons and defend and spread your ideals. This country is still in turmoil and it will need all the help it can get from good men like you. Even if you don't plan to stay there for long, Tokyo is big city and I'm sure it will help you to realize what you need to do in order to protect those who need it the most", Katsu finished his speech taking both of the empty tea cups and heading towards the kitchen to wash them and store them away. Kenshin merely stared at him although his gaze now seemed so far away, his left hand tracing the scar on his cheek.

Katsu then went upstairs and came back a few moments later carrying a futon. "Perhaps it is not much, but I will feel really honored if you sleep here tonight. It is already late and I bet even you are tired from this conversation, besides, I'm sure a good night of sleep will help you think things straight", the Minister said, extending the futon over one _tatami_ in the floor. He then headed to his own bedroom, not before hearing the soft words of his guest.

"Thank you, Katsu-san", the swordsman said, bowing deeply to him.

OOO

December 21st 1877

The next morning, Katsu Kaishū came downstairs to prepare a quick breakfast before getting ready for a new day of work.

He was not surprised to see the futon he offered to Kenshin neatly folded in a corner and resting above it, the newspaper he showed him last night. There was not a trace or at least a sign that last night he had had a guest.

Hearing him footsteps inside the house, the door slid open and a young police officer entered with a deep bow.

"He left before sunrise", said the policeman that was assigned to keep watch on Katsu's headquarters after yesterday's attack.

"I see. Did he say anything?" the Minister asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Only that he would head up North to take the Nakasendō route to Tokyo. I tried to stop him due to the snowfalls that will surely cover part of the road but he said that it would not be a problem for him and left", explained the officer.

Katsu smiled.

The young officer felt a little excluded, reason why he dared to inquiry further. "Excuse me, sir. I know when to keep my mouth shut, but that man was…" he was interrupted before he could finish.

"That was only Kenshin Himura, a man searching for his truth", said the Minister of the Navy.

The policeman frowned a little. He wasn't convinced. After all, not everyday you crossed paths with a living legend such as Hitokiri Battousai. "Shouldn't we report this to the Home Minister? Maybe at least send a message to the police department in Tokyo?" he asked, sounded genuinely worried. In his opinion, the red-headed swordsman looked almost harmless to him, but if the stories about him were true…

Katsu considered it for a moment, and then nodded in approval. "Perhaps you are right. Send a telegram to Chief Inspector Gorō Fujita in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department", he instructed, before going to the kitchen to prepare some tea.

The young officer winced. He knew Inspector Fujita. And he didn't like him. He was a shady one. He worked during the last year for him in several cases, but his methods were rather unorthodox despite getting results and a very high percentage of cases solved. At the end, it had been the attitude of the Inspector what prompted him to ask for his transfer to Osaka.

"… What should the message say?" he asked softly, refraining himself from expressing his opinion about the man with golden eyes that smoked a little too much for his own good.

The response from the Minister was quite amusing. "Only tell him to keep his eyes open. Next year promises to be a rather exciting one", he said, reappearing with a cup of tea in his hands.

With that, the officer simply shrugged and went back to the station to prepare and send said message. He knew that Katsu-san was a weird one, but he respected him deeply and was aware that he never made an affirmation without having a good basis to support it.

OOO

At the outskirts of Osaka, Kenshin looked back one last time to contemplate the city and its bay, which shined with the golden aura of the rising Sun. He had spent a good part of last night's digesting Katsu's words, pondering them. No matter how he looked at it, the words of the older man made sense to him. Finally, he smiled a little, nodding silently in thankfulness to his host, who had slapped back some common sense to his head and continued his way.

The cold wind and the dark clouds that loomed above the mountains in the horizon made him tighten once again his white scarf around his neck as he began his journey. For the first time in ten years, he had a destination. Nevertheless, despite his hurry, the blocked roads due to the snow would surely delay him a little, so he calculated that he would arrive to Edo by the tenth day of January.

No. Not Edo.

Tokyo.

Truth to be told, he felt a little excited. It had been a while ever since he had visited a big city, and the new capital could not be compared to anything else where he had previously been. He decided to put Katsu's words into practice: to make a stand and face his past, starting with the fake Battousai that was using his nickname so lightly, without considering the consequences.

He wasn't sure of what would follow the incident once he solved it, but part of him was actually looking forward to, what he suspected, was going to be a whole new chapter is his life.

Who knew, perhaps things would more interesting than he expected.

OOO

Author notes:

Whoa, this ended up being much a larger than what I originally expected. The origin of this entire chapter was from a simple question I made myself: What made Kenshin decide to go to Tokyo in the first place?

I always had the impression that as a wanderer, Kenshin avoided big cities if possible, so I thought I could explore that little fact that is never explained in the original story. In other things, I think this will be the only chapter in which I will use a historical figure so extensively. The next ones will revolve mostly on Watsuki's characters. I wonder if anyone can guess who will be the next swordsman to appear in the third chapter of this story…

There is also the issue of the dates. In RK, the only concrete date we get is May 14th 1878 , so I like to think that the RK story began almost at the start of that year, meaning that Kenshin spent at least 5 months with Kaoru before being forced to leave to Kyoto. That's the reason why I decided to set this chapter around late December of 1877, since walking the entire Nakasendō route could take a person around 20 or 30 days, without counting snowfalls.

Anyways, I also had to do some research in order to write this, so here are the notes I used.

*** Historical facts:

**Hyōgo Port**: Former name of Kobe until April 1st, 1889. It is approximately 30 km west of Osaka.

**Four-tier class system**: Society in feudal Japan was divided in 4 classes: samurai, farmers/peasants, artisans and merchants. It was extremely rare for one person to move from one class to another. This system was abolished when the Meiji Restoration took place in 1868.

**Haitōrei Edict**: Also known as the Sword Abolishment Edict. It was an edict issued by the Meiji government on March 28th 1876 which prohibited people, with the exception of former lords (daimyo), the military and law enforcement officials, from carrying weapons in public. Violators of this rule would have their swords confiscated. It was one of a series of steps taken by the government to abolish the traditional privileges of the samurai class, and one of the major causes of discontent in early Meiji period Japan, which led to various samurai-led insurrections.

**Satsuma Rebellion**: It was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma domain, which had been very influential in the Restoration and become home to many unemployed samurai after military reforms rendered their status obsolete. The Rebellion lasted from January 29th 1877 until September 24th of that year, when it was decisively crushed and its leader, Saigō Takamori, died.

In case you are wondering, yes, this is the same Saigō that formed an alliance with Kogorō Katsura thanks to the mediation of Sakamoto Ryōma to topple the _bakufu_ during the Bakumatsu. Saigō's rebellion was the last and most serious of a series of armed uprisings against the new government. Ōkubo Toshimichi, as Home Minister of Japan was the man responsible for crushing the rebellion, reason why he was considered a traitor by many of the Satsuma samurai and was assassinated on May 14th, 1878.

For reference, this is the Rebellion in which Kaoru's father, Kamiya Koshijirō, was killed since he was drafted as a member of the police swordmen unit and gave his life while protecting a comrade. Saitō later refers to this rebellion in chapter 67 of the manga and episode 35 of the anime as the reason why Japan can't send the army to retake the territories Makoto Shishio has seized, as if it did so, it would only show its unrest to the foreign powers. Keep in mind that Japan's position in the international arena at that time was still very weak and at risk of ending up as another China.

**Iwakura Mission**: It was a Japanese diplomatic journey around the world, initiated in 1871 by the oligarchs of the Meiji period. Although it was not the only such "mission", it is the most well-known and possibly most important for the modernization of Japan after a long period of isolation from the West. Katsura in particular accompanied the mission that sailed on December 23rd 1871 from Yokohama on the _SS America_, bound for San Francisco. From there it continued to Washington, D.C., then to Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Bavaria, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. On the return journey, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, and Shanghai were also visited, although much more briefly. The mission returned home on September 13th 1873, almost two years after setting out.

**Seikanron**: literally "Advocacy of a punitive expedition to Korea". It was a major political conflagration which occurred in Japan in 1873. Saigō Takamori and his supporters insisted that Japan confronted Korea due to the latter's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Meiji Emperor as head of state of the Empire of Japan, and because of the insulting treatment to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations with that country. Saigō also saw the issue in Korea to be the perfect opportunity to find meaningful employment for the thousands of out-of-work samurai, who had lost most of their income and social standing in the new Meiji social and economic order.

Kogoro Katsura, thanks to the Iwakura Mission in which he participated, realized that Japan was not in any position to challenge the Western powers in its present state and returned to Japan just in time to prevent what surely would have been a disastrous invasion of Korea. As it was decided that no action was to be taken against Korea, many, including Saigō, resigned from their government positions in protest. Some suggest that this political split paved the way for the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion.

**Survival of the fittest**: It is a phrase originating in evolutionary theory, as an alternative description of natural selection. The phrase is today commonly used in contexts that are incompatible with the original meaning as intended by its first two proponents: British polymath philosopher Herbert Spencer (who coined the term) and Charles Darwin.

Herbert Spencer first used the phrase – after reading Charles Darwin's _On the Origin of Species_ – in his _Principles of Biology_, in which he drew parallels between his own economic theories and Darwin's biological ones, writing, "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life".

Darwin used Spencer's new phrase "survival of the fittest" as a synonym for natural selection as a metaphor for "better adapted for immediate, local environment", not the common inference of "in the best physical shape" which Makoto Shishio adopted.

**Nakasendō route**: It was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto. Its total distance was approximately of 534 km. This is the route Sanosuke used to reach Kyoto after getting lost and meeting Anji.

*** Character notes:

**Kenshin Himura**: I took some liberties and decided to depict Kenshin as he appears in the latest work of Watsuki, the Kinema-ban reboot, in which our hero wears a rather long, white scarf. Its origin seems to date back to the character redesign sketches Watsuki included in the kanzenban edition of the manga, in which he drew Battousai wearing Tomoe's shawl as a scarf. Perhaps he is still keeping said item as a memento of her?

As for his attitude during this chapter, I think it was rather a big coincidence for Kenshin to appear in Tokyo at the same time the fake Hitokiri Battousai was causing a ruckus. I like to think that after 10 years of wandering and even more so, after witnessing the Satsuma Rebellion, even he was beginning to feel a little lost and in need of a right push. That's where Katsu Kaishū comes in, as an advisor by nature that allowed the rurouni to search and find a purpose once again.

His manner of speech is a little weird, and I decided against using the whole "sessha" and "de gozaru" thing for English translations of those terms save for his trademark "Oro" expression.

**Katsu Kaishū**: Perhaps one of the most interesting figures in the history of Japan. As a youth Katsu studied Dutch and European military science, and was eventually appointed translator by the government when European powers attempted to establish contact with Japan. Katsu developed the reputation as an expert in Western military technology. Under the advisement of the Dutch, he served as director of training for the Nagasaki Naval Center between 1855 until 1859. In 1860, Katsu was assigned to command the _Kanrin-maru_, (built by the Dutch, it was Japan's first steam-powered warship) to escort the first Japanese delegation to San Francisco, California en route to Washington, DC for the formal ratification of the Harris Treaty.

Katsu's voyage across the Pacific Ocean was meant to signal that Japan had mastered modern sailing and shipbuilding technology, although that was far from true, as the country would still take years to develop its own steamships. He remained in San Francisco for nearly two months, observing American society, culture and technology. Following his return to Japan, Katsu held a series of high ranking posts in the Tokugawa navy, arguing before government councils in favor of a unified Japanese naval force led by professionally trained officers in disregard of promotion and assignment due to hereditary status, this gained him the mistrust of the _bakufu_. During his command as director of the Kobe Naval School he founded, the institute would become a major source of activity for progressive thinking and reformists between 1863 and 1864. Among his students were plenty of _Ishin-shishi_, including none other than Sakamoto Ryōma.

Although sympathetic to the _Ishin-shishi_ cause, Katsu remained loyal to the Tokugawa. After the collapse of the shogunate forces in late 1867, Katsu negotiated the surrender of the Edo castle to Saigō Takamori on April 11th 1868, ensuring a relatively peaceful and orderly transition of power to the Meiji Restoration.

Katsu returned to government service as Vice Minister of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1872, followed by first Minister of the Navy from 1873 until 1878. He was the most prominent of the former Tokugawa retainers who found employment within the new Meiji government, although his influence within the navy was minimal, as the Navy was largely dominated by a core of Satsuma officers. Katsu served mostly as a senior advisor on national policy.

If there is a man Aoshi Shinomori despises in the RK story, it must be Katsu, since his mediation to surrender the Edo castle stole the glory Aoshi wanted for the Oniwabanshū. Katsu was a very prominent figure that played an important role for the transition to the Meiji era, so the chances that Kenshin met him during the war and once again during his wandering years are not that farfetched to me Furthermore, his wisdom served as a beacon for many _Ishin-shishi_, to make them realize that suppressing the Tokugawa domain by force through a large civil war would only leave Japan completely defenseless to the foreign powers and would be seized like China.

Just like in the previous chapter, I decided to use him as a historical figure in order to serve as a link for the start of the manga, this time, as the man behind Kenshin's decision to go to Tokyo, which would lead to all the following events of the story.

*** Glossary notes:

Naginata: A weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft with a curved blade on the end.

Battōjutsu: Kenshin's trademark style. It is the art of sword drawing. The emphasis of training in this style is on cutting with the sword.

Tatami: It is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core with a covering of woven soft rush straw.


	3. Caught in the Spider's Web

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all of its characters are property of Nobuhiro Watsuki.

**Rurouni Kenshin – Meiji Swordsmen Tales**

**Chapter 3: Caught in the Spider's Web**

January 20th 1878

The steam coming out from the kettle told her that the concoction would be soon ready.

The woman clad in a lavender kimono frowned while looking at the rising vapor, contemplating and reviewing in her mind the plan and the risks that it involved, but she quickly dismissed the thoughts.

Her freedom was at stake and the hand she would have to play to recover it involved a high peril.

Especially given the nature of her captors.

Even so, her determination was strong enough to face such dangers. At least that much was what a life marked by tragedy had taught her. Thanks to that, Takani Megumi was a woman who once had her mind set, there was no stopping her.

Tonight she would escape.

She had carefully planned her move for the past week, ever since she overheard one of the Okashira's men, the little one with the spiky hair, whisper that Kanryū would attend to a business meeting today in Yokohama and wanted all of the Oniwabanshū to accompany him for safety reasons.

Shaking her long, raven-black hair with one hand, Megumi repeated to herself that since long ago, she had decided she would stop being the gold-laying hen of that despicable bastard once and for all.

It didn't matter how many times it took, she would be free.

She allowed herself a wicked smile contemplating the small, neatly folded triangular packages of "Spider's Web" that were dispersed in disarray over the tables of the deserted laboratory at the basement of the mansion. At least she was damn sure she wouldn't give the pig the satisfaction to leave behind the formula to keep producing this venom.

It was a secret she would take with her to the grave, a puny attempt in her mind to repair all the damage she had done.

She hoped that in case no other option was left besides the ultimate sacrifice, that act could help her to atone for what she had done. At least enough to be able to face her family in the afterlife without being ashamed of telling them what she had done with the knowledge that was supposed to save lives instead of destroying them.

Her wicked smile turned into a sad one, thinking ironically that the secret behind the opium she mass produced was something so simple.

Tobacco leaves.

They were part of the cheap stock Kanryū acquired monthly in order make the stuff. Whoever was supplying him disregarded quality for quantity, as plenty of times instead of the full opium shipment, half of it consisted of withered tobacco leaves, but she was sure the man didn't care as long as it meant profits for him.

Nevertheless, it wasn't as simple as mixing the poppy juice with the leaves of the plants. The elaborate making process of the common ingredients did the trick behind the terrible addiction "Spider's Web" created.

A pang of guilt gnawed her heart. It had been her after all who suggested Akashi Tadao, the doctor who she served as assistant, the idea behind the damn drug.

Megumi didn't like to boast about her medical knowledge, if there was one thing her family taught her was to be humble at all times. Dr. Tadao was a good physician, she had to give him that, but during the time she worked with him she often correctly diagnosed the patients they visited or came to the clinic in half of the time he did.

She still remembered clearly the events that had led to their encounter. Right after the Battle of Aizu that took away everything from her she had been roaming around the remains of her home, which had been engulfed by the flames until nothing but smoking ashes remained, desperately calling for the names of her parents and brothers to no avail for two entire days until she accepted the hard truth that she was now alone.

At that moment she had almost lost the will to live, but fortunately for her, she was found by an elderly couple that had served her family for years and managed to make her return to her senses by offering her the chance to live with them under their care at a village no too far away, called Niitsuru. They told her that it was the least they could do to properly honor and mourn Takani Ryūsei, the doctor who had successfully made them recover from sicknesses that other doctors had deemed as incurable many years ago.

Washing away the tears and realizing she had the obligation to carry on the pride of her family name, Megumi accepted their offer.

During her childhood, Megumi had not lived exactly surrounded by luxuries, but the high status of her family assured that she would never lack anything. During the four years she was under the care of Takeru Satoh and Mayo Satoh, who worked as carpenters, the couple did what they could so that situation remained for her and while the living space was reduced, she could not complain about ever missing food or clothes, and was extremely grateful to them. She remembered fondly that their main worry was that she would not be able to find a husband given how much time she spent studying but that thought had never crossed Megumi's mind.

Ever since she saw her house burn down in Aizu and the tragedy that the war brought to the people she loved, she had decided to keep alive the ideals of her parents and bring aid with her skills to everyone who needed them.

And so, shortly after Takeru and Mayo took her under their care as their own granddaughter, she began to work as a doctor.

Of course, barely being twelve years old no one in Niitsuru took her seriously, but that only prompted Megumi to work harder, putting into practice everything she remembered from the lessons her parents taught her and all the Western books she had read. Soon, people began to notice her skills, coming to her in order to alleviate simple things: a slight fever, stomachaches and sprained ankles.

However, in just a year she was able to properly treat more serious cases and wounds: broken bones, sword wounds and infections. It was amazing how much she could do thanks to her weekly excursions to the woods in order to collect the required plants and herbs to prepare the remedies that were engraved in her mind thanks to her vast knowledge. Takeru and Mayo had been greatly impressed, telling her that she was indeed the daughter of Takani Ryūsei, with a talent that would soon surpass her father.

By the time she was fifteen years old, she had become pretty much the official doctor of the village. Her severity and analytical mind kept away many suitors despite her natural beauty, much to the sadness and amusement of Takeru and Mayo, but by that time, marriage was the last thing in Megumi's mind. She had decided her work as a doctor was not only for the sake of helping people, she was also hoping to create herself enough fame in order to gain the attention of the medical community, or at least, of other people with large medical skills.

Like her mother.

Or her missing brothers.

Takeru and Mayo later learned and told her that while indeed her father died during the Battle of Aizu, her mother and brothers went missing and their fate remained unknown, but it was almost certain that they were also alive and searching for her. It was only natural that the chaos brought by the Meiji Restoration had made things difficult for the members of the Takani family to locate each other, but that couldn't last forever. Therefore, if she became a remarkable doctor, Megumi was certain that her family would eventually find her.

Unfortunately, her fame brought her something completely different from what she was expecting.

She was returning home from the small clinic she and the Satoh couple had managed to build at the center of the village so she could exercise her profession and was surprised to see they had a guest. Sitting in front of her "grandparents" was a tall, stern man who had a prominent mustache under his nose and strangely, wore a Western white lab coat over his dark blue kimono and hakama. He seemed to be around thirty years old but despite his relatively young age, his short black hair was starting to show gray strands at the sides above his ears and there was a bald spot just right above his forehead.

When he saw her, the man bowed apologetically and introduced himself as Akashi Tadao. He claimed to have been a former student of Takani Ryūsei and had travelled all the way from Tokyo when rumors reached him about a doctor of the Takani name working in Niitsuru. He was hoping to find his master, the man with the most expertise he knew in the subject in order to share with him some discoveries he had made to develop a new type of analgesic. At that moment, Megumi had been slightly shocked. Her plan had actually worked! At least in a way and while the person in front of her was not her mother or one of her brothers, she decided it was a start.

Megumi slowly explained him that indeed she was the daughter of Takani Ryūsei, but her father died during the Battle of Aizu and the rest of family scattered in the chaos of the war. Doctor Tadao showed immense shock about the news and excused himself for his rudeness and ignorance, but stated that there was something he needed to talk about with Megumi that could be of her interest, so he announced he would return the following day.

Indeed he returned next day in the morning and as a proof that his claim of being a student of Takani Ryūsei was true, he gave her a couple of medical diaries written by her father. Megumi had given a squeal of surprise, not expecting to see a treasure like this ever again. Doctor Tadao explained that Ryūsei had given them to him back when he was a student and now it only seemed appropriate to return them to the daughter of his master.

The girl had been delighted, but she immediately recovered her coolness when she realized doctor Tadao had not come to Niitsuru all the way from Tokyo just to return her a couple of old books written by her father. Indeed it had not been the case. Doctor Tadao carefully voiced his thoughts and accurately deducted Megumi's plan and the reason why he had found out about her. Nevertheless, he continued, ever since the Meiji Restoration, everything had changed and the fact that she came from a samurai family meant nothing in the new Japan, reason why if she wanted to gain the prestige she was aiming for with her medical skills to find her family, she would need to move to a large city, as Niitsuru was simply too small for her plans to succeed.

Megumi asked him then what was the reason for his visit. As a fellow physician, doctor Tadao explained, he offered her the possibility to become his assistant in a clinic he owned in Tokyo. Not only he would share with her all the experience he had, but she would be able to hone her medical skills by applying all her knowledge to become prestigious enough so her family would be able to locate her soon and she would be able to reunite with them at last.

That was of course, only if she wanted.

Megumi thanked him for his generosity and told him that she would need a day to think about it. After all, she had been serving in the little village as a full-fledged doctor for almost three years already with no signs yet of her plans coming to fruition. Takeru and Mayo had been present during the entire encounter and after the doctor left, they encouraged her to accept the offer, as surely no better chance than this to find her family would ever come.

Megumi finally agreed and thanking the Satoh couple for what they did for her in a teary farewell, she accompanied doctor Tadao to Tokyo.

During the first year things had not been so bad. The clinic in which doctor Tadao worked was modest, but very well known in town and quite busy. For a while, Megumi had been pushed to her limits, as the work of a doctor in Niitsuru was far more easygoing in comparison to what a big city like Tokyo demanded.

Nevertheless, Megumi stood up to the challenge and was able to quickly adapt to her new environment. Doctor Tadao usually praised her skills, telling her she would soon surpass him and even her father since she was a quick learner and a very intelligent girl with a vast knowledge in Western medicine. He quickly gained her trust by allowing her to give the prescriptions the patients needed to recover barely two months after she began to work for him.

And boy, she must have had the word "sucker" written all over her face after that first year of work in Tokyo in the clinic, she thought with a frown. One day, he told her they had a new employer, one that could sponsor the research in which he had invested so many years, and the reason why he had been searching for Takani Ryūsei in the first place, as it involved the use of opium to mass produce an analgesic. Megumi at first had been skeptical and told doctor Tadao of the addiction symptoms the plant created. Many Western books (most of them from England) she had read that specialized in the subject recognized the substance as a wondrous pain killer, but advised against its use due to the large dependence it created for the patient, who often was unable to survive the abstinence period that followed once the treatment was complete.

Doctor Tadao had quickly dismissed her worries, assuring her that he had discovered a process that got rid of the addiction side effects after studying exhaustively the teachings of Hanaoka Seishū and was certain that the formula would be able to help people all over Japan to alleviate their pain, as tragedies like the constant samurai rebellions kept surging through the country.

For the first time ever since she began to work for him, Megumi had not been that convinced, since as far as she knew, no matter what process it went through, the chemicals opium contained could not be completely deprived of their addictive effect. Common sense quickly told her that she didn't want to have anything to do with this "discovery", as her goal went in a completely different direction. Nevertheless, she did not have the resources to accomplish it by herself and she had nowhere else to go, as just six months after installing in Tokyo she learned in a letter that the Satoh couple in Niitsuru died during an earthquake, the news greatly disturbing her.

And so, after a brief period of doubt, she accompanied doctor Tadao to visit Kanryū Takeda's mansion at the outskirts of Tokyo in order to meet their new "sponsor".

The whistle coming out from the kettle interrupted her train of thoughts. She quickly poured the hot liquid inside a test tube and capped it with a cork. She admired the honey-colored substance for a moment before storing it in a large pocket inside the left sleeve of her kimono.

She looked at the large clock in the wall, its hands indicating it was only four o'clock.

Two and a half more hours to go before the darkness came and her plan was put into motion.

She quickly washed the kettle to erase any evidence of what she had been doing and headed to the door, sliding it open.

Not surprisingly, two of Kanryū's thugs eyed her lecherously. One of them even licking his lips and making an obscene gesture to her, to which his partner roared in laughter. Megumi eyed them with disgust and simply grunted in annoyance, shaking her long hair behind her as she went upstairs to the library, the two apes following her a few steps behind, stopping to admire her rear.

She closed the door behind her, her anger quickly disappearing as she contemplated the spacious chamber, which contained dozens of large bookshelves stacked of volumes. At least it was the only place in the mansion in which she felt comfortable, as the ignorant monkeys that Kanryū assigned to watch her over felt intimidated and disgusted by the knowledge contained by the room, as if it could infect them with some sort of unpleasant disease that would make them more intelligent.

She sighed and took a seat at the large table in the middle of the room, where there was an extremely thick anatomy book open she had been reading for the past week. Megumi quickly started to read the following chapter; which described the symptoms of blood poisoning and how to treat it written by a British doctor that somehow, got involved in the Bakumatsu a decade ago and had seen many brave swordsmen survive fierce battles only to die pathetically a few days or weeks later by septicemia. Judging by the tone of the author, he seemed quite annoyed and upset by the fact that due to foolishness like distrust and superstition, he couldn't save the life of many of those men. Megumi read with interest the passage in which the author mentioned that wounds by stabs were particularly prone to blood poisoning…

OOO

After quickly devouring the chapter and closing the thick volume, Megumi checked the clock hung over the door of the library. Only one hour had passed and while she thought she could try to spend the following hour reading the following chapters of the book, she no longer had the heart to do so.

She got up and headed for the window which gave view to the ample courtyard and the main gate of the mansion. She was sure the gate would be locked but that was no problem for her, as she had managed to acquire from one of the guards posted at the lobby the key that opened it. She brought her hand to the large pocket inside the right sleeve of her kimono, touching the little and cold object, easing away part of her current anxiety.

For once she thanked that most of the men Kanryū employed were brutes who couldn't keep away their _sake_.

Her mind wandered once again to her first encounter with the corrupt businessman.

The man had given her a bad feeling the moment she saw him. The mansion he owned, his manners and the way he dressed, desperately trying to look and act like a Westerner, all of it seemed ridiculous to her. Despite being only sixteen years old, her feminine intuition told there was something shady behind the businessman that was so joyful to support doctor Tadao's research.

And yet, that first visit to Kanryū's state had been pretty much uneventful. She had been amazed by the size of the mansion and its decoration. Surely no mere businessman would have been able to own something like this without having an exceptional stroke of luck.

Or being involved in something illegal.

Probably both.

Megumi gathered all her courage to ask Kanryū exactly what he did for a living to be able to live in such a place, to which the man simply smiled innocently, telling her that he had a few contracts with the Meiji government (which paid handsomely, by the way) by providing it with the goods it needed for the flourishing railroad industry. His good fortune was due to the fact that very few had dared to venture in the business and he naturally provided excellent results, reason why his services were very much required.

After the short explanation (which seemed feasible), he wasted no time to take his guests to an ample dining room where he threw a feast for them to celebrate the establishing of his partnership with doctor Tadao, closing the deal in the Western fashion: with a handshake. Nevertheless, Megumi suspected that the whole thing had been a charade just to keep appearances in front of her, as they never mentioned anything about the details of the joint project in her presence.

Sometimes, Takani Megumi hated to be right.

In the course of the following year, Megumi kept working in the small clinic. The difference was that now she served as the actual doctor and not a mere assistant, as doctor Tadao spent more and more time in Takeda's mansion, sometimes coming back after an entire week of absence or more. Megumi deducted it was due to the opium research, as surely, even if the businessman was able to provide him with more than adequate equipment and resources, the project was far from complete due to its complexity.

During six months nothing really extraordinary happened, but she soon began to notice dark circles under doctor Tadao's eyes, not to mention that his usual calm temper was becoming increasingly irritable.

And suddenly, the steady flow of patients the clinic had ever since she began to work there started to decline to the point that somedays, Megumi didn't receive a single patient. Sometimes she strolled around the streets, offering to deliver her services as a doctor for a change, but people immediately rejected her, saying they were fine and didn't need her, always looking at her with wary and intimidated eyes.

At that point she started to become quite uneasy, but there was nothing she could do.

She was certain that something was _very_ wrong when doctor Tadao began to ask her to accompany him to Kanryū's mansion, to the very same laboratory where she now worked to help him in what he claimed, was the last part of his research. Megumi's work consisted of boiling large quantities of the pods in big cauldrons to acquire the opium extract. Megumi was quickly disgusted by the chore and tired of the elusive answers of doctor Tadao, so one night she finally asked him directly what kind of process he followed in order to develop the analgesic, as a single dose of the opium extract she was preparing was able to kill an ox. Nevertheless, the doctor just shrugged and told her with a smile that he would give her all the details once he was sure the medicine was ready.

Since that moment, Megumi knew there was something fishy about the whole deal and running away started to seem like a good idea in her head. The problem was that she had _nowhere_ to run away. Aizu and Niitsuru were simply no good. Nagasaki was an option, since her entire family went there in the first place to study Western medicine in the past, but she didn't have the resources for such a long journey, not to mention the dangers that would accompany a lone woman in the road, so that possibility was very remote. Besides, even though she didn't want to admit it, life in the mansion wasn't so bad. The library she had access to was quite impressive. She had to give Kanryū credit for the collection of volumes he had amassed, especially regarding botany, chemistry and medicine; lots of Japanese and Western books were available for her to read to keep increasing her knowledge and medical skills, which sadly, she could rarely exercise now that the clinic didn't receive any patients at all.

It was during that time that she began her own research, taking notes of the books she read and comparing them with her father's and her own knowledge, prompting her to elaborate her own theories and remedies for ailments which both the Japanese and Western books identified as the same due to the symptoms described. To her exasperation and annoyance, she quickly discerned a recurrent pattern in which Western and Japanese authors disregarded effective, foreign treatments for considering them "insufficient" or "inadequate".

Knowing that in medicine the more information the better, Megumi quickly identified common characteristics described by both parts regarding certain sicknesses and wrote down her own conclusions and prescriptions, taking the best of each point of view after carefully analyzing them, confident that the solutions she came up with were much more effective than those suggested by the scholars she read. At that moment she didn't know it, but her own research and recipes that combined Japanese and Western knowledge made her a pioneer in her field and had they been published, worldwide medicine knowledge would have leapt forward a good ten years in one go.

She was just that good.

And so, one day, doctor Tadao innocently asked her if she could think of a way to make opium work not only as an analgesic, but also as a remedy against fever and malaria, as if it possessed both characteristics, the medicine would become an unprecedented breakthrough in the field. She innocently responded that in the West, doctors used tobacco leaves for the treatment of both diseases. Doctor Tadao seemed bewildered with excitement about the simple solution, which had escaped him for months and quickly left to the laboratory before she could tell him that of course, the use was highly debated and questionable and in her opinion, the combination of both ingredients could be fatal or at least, so addictive that the patient would be consumed by the remedy, not by the sickness.

That innocent question had been the last drop Megumi needed to confirm that she was right in the middle of a drug dealing operation: Doctor Tadao was developing some sort of new narcotic using opium as the basis for Kanryū.

At first she felt horrified and her first thought had been to go to the police and denounce the whole thing, but she quickly regained the calm and wondered. What good would that do? With the fortune Kanryū had amassed (surely through highly questionable and illegal dealings, no doubt about it), a good chunk of the Tokyo police force would be under his influence thanks to his bribes. Besides, she didn't have any concrete proof to support her claims, not to mention all the unwanted attention she would bring to herself. As much as she hated it, Megumi realized that keeping her mouth shut was the best she could do for the moment.

The idea didn't seem that wise a week after. Around midnight, she was coming out from the library when she heard two voices down in the laboratory having a heated discussion. Frozen in the doorway, Megumi listened to shouts, insults and curses, which were getting louder until a gunshot was heard and everything fell into silence.

Megumi stood there for a moment, her eyes widening as the realization of what had just happened was registered by her brain and then she sprinted downstairs and opened the door of the laboratory. Her eyes were greeted by the sight of doctor Tadao lying face down in the floor, obviously dead given the large pool of blood under him. In front of the fallen figure of the doctor, Megumi saw Kanryū, a smoking revolver in his hand and his face slightly pale, a dazed look in his face.

However, once he saw Megumi, he grinned like a shark and quickly approached her, cupping her face with his hands tenderly, like a father would do with his daughter in order to calm her down.

He slowly began to explain that he and doctor Tadao had formed a partnership in order to conduct a small business that was going to be extremely profitable for everyone involved and as she already knew, yes, it involved opium. The original idea was that he, as the sponsor and the doctor as the developer of the new drug, would share the profits in half while the dear "consumers" would receive a new, wondrous product quite refined for an extremely low price. It was a good deal, he reasoned, over and over, trying to justify the murder he had just committed, as no one forced anyone to consume opium to escape reality in the first place, so everybody won in some way or another.

What horrified Megumi was the anxious, frenetic and desperate look Kanryū had while he was explaining his twisted logic to her, against which she could only nod in agreement, her eyes never leaving the barrel of the gun that was so close to her head.

However, Kanryū continued, the good old doctor had discovered a method to make a new kind of cheaper opium twice as effective as the normal dose with just half of the required ingredients and insisted in keeping the secret to himself. As his business partner and sponsor, Kanryū politely asked doctor Tadao to share his newfound knowledge with him, but the stupid man refused and even threatened him with setting up his own production plant, keeping all the profits for himself.

And of course that had been a very stupid thing to do.

Nobody betrayed Kanryū Takeda.

Nobody.

He had only meant to give the doctor a little scare with the gun, but things quickly got out of control and well, here they were.

Asking if she understood so far, Megumi kept silent and nodded again. She quickly glanced at the corpse near her in the floor and while she regretted a little the death of doctor Tadao, she was not exactly eager to mourn him. So this was what he had been after all this time, she thought with disgust.

More satisfied with his own explanation than her gesture, Kanryū let her go and kept talking, putting the gun he had just used inside one of the pockets of his suit. Given that she was the talented assistant he had heard so much about and now that the doctor was dead, it was only natural for Megumi to be under his care. The businessman then lit a cigarette and calmly asked her to become doctor Tadao's replacement.

If she did so, he would keep the original deal he had offered doctor Tadao in the first place of sharing the profits in half. Megumi noticed that while his mouth was smiling, tasting the cigarette, his eyes were not and looked as threatening as those of a lizard behind his squared glasses.

She had to answer fast. Rather than money, Megumi wanted nothing more than get the hell out of the mansion as soon as possible, but with the sudden turn of events it was obvious that Kanryū would kill her first before letting her go. Realizing she had no way out, she agreed and promised to resume doctor Tadao's work. Kanryū was delighted to hear her answer and gently asked her to return to her room while his men cleaned up the mess, so the laboratory would be ready for her to begin her new work as soon as possible starting tomorrow.

As if nothing had happened.

She sourly remembered that she didn't need more than an hour to understand the "Spider's Web" formula thanks to the annotations left behind by Akashi Tadao in his journals. Her suggestion of using the tobacco leaves was the key and only after a couple of tries, she came up with the exact formula.

She felt like shit holding in her hand the small package that contained the white powder. How could things have ended up like this?

She gave Kanryū the sample, who was extremely happy with her work and surprisingly, offered to let her go. All she needed to do was to write down the formula and the exact process, step by step, to produce it.

Megumi was no fool. Heavens knew what this maniac was capable of if he was able to do as he pleased with the drug. As the developer, she knew just how was dangerous it was and the threat it represented to the people of Tokyo once it hit the streets. But, if she could somehow mitigate the damage by delaying or slowing down its production…

She was certain that the asshole in front of her would kill her the moment she revealed the secret behind "Spider's Web", so, surprising him and even herself, she declined smugly and changed the terms of Kanryū's offer, explaining that since she had nowhere to go, in exchange of the monthly opium production she would naturally be in charge of, she would like to keep living in the mansion.

She smirked a little at Kanryū's dumbfounded expression, as she outplayed him completely. The businessman never saw that coming, nevertheless he smiled and clapped, praising her negotiation skills and accepted the deal.

With a handshake, of course.

And with that, she effectively became his hostage.

Megumi stretched her back, still contemplating the courtyard, which now was bathed under an orange light thanks to the setting Sun. Night would soon come and with it, her chance to get away from this prison.

During the last three years she had been like a delicate bird in a golden cage. She had to recognize that during all this time, she had never been abused or beaten. She only had to endure the harassment and vulgarities of Kanryū's men, most of them, former samurai who ended up jobless in the new Meiji era. Much less she could complain about having a poor life style given all the luxury Kanryū liked to be surrounded with. During the first few months when she started to produce the opium, Kanryū always reminded her that as long as she was his "partner", she could ask for anything. Nevertheless, Megumi insisted to keep things simple and refused to accept anything else besides food, shelter and access to the library, as well as the latest books of the subjects she was interested in, puzzling the businessman for a while, who often frowned at his inability to understand her until his offerings stopped, surely pleased that he could save some money thanks to her humble life style.

Megumi felt disgusted with herself for what she was doing, but sadly, she had no choice. For the last three years, the secret behind "Spider's Web" was the sole reason why she was alive. The moment Kanryū changed his mind and decided he wanted the formula for himself, he would surely kill her.

Nevertheless, "Spider's Web" simplicity meant that many would overlook the key behind it and besides, even if someone realized it, there was still a trick behind the exact amount of opium and tobacco the mixture needed and that was something only she knew. No amateur could replicate it and whether Kanryū liked it or not, it was a fact that he needed her to keep running the show.

However, even if Kanryū would never be able to figure out the formula by himself, she was pretty sure that the Okashira was capable of doing so.

She bit her lower lip, thinking about the _onmitsu_ and his… peculiar group.

That man was able to reduce the effectiveness of her sole bargain chip, reason why he was her greatest threat.

The quiet man was a living puzzle to her. For what reason someone as strong and capable like Aoshi Shinomori and his men worked for a cockroach like Kanryū?

Was it money?

That had been Megumi's first impression when she saw them for the first time a year and a half ago and witnessed their… skills. They were obviously full-fledged warriors, nothing like the incompetent mercenaries and thugs Kanryū usually hired. However, given their origin, as ninjas, most probably they no longer had a place to go in this Meiji era, so perhaps they had simply chosen a new way of living in which they could put their abilities to use.

Rather than money, they seemed to be in search of the thrill of the battle, wherever it would be, since it was becoming increasingly difficult to find in these relatively peaceful times. Naturally, someone from the criminal underworld such as Kanryū could offer them that chance in order to get rid of his own enemies, but Megumi felt disgusted by the lack of morals and conscience of the _onmitsu_, as she knew they were perfectly aware of the whole opium deal.

The night the Oniwabanshū appeared, Megumi was returning to her room after spending an entire day in the laboratory when she heard a commotion at the main gate. She heard the gunshots, screams and curses that accompanied the heat of a battle she remembered so well. Looking through the window, at first she thought the police had finally decided to do something about Kanryū and his little opium syndicate but her excitement quickly turned into disappointment when she could not spot a single blue uniform among the attackers.

Instead, she saw a dozen of men who had managed to break into the courtyard and were running against the house, half of them armed with swords and the other half carrying pistols and breech-loading rifles. They definitely disregarded the possibility of being subtle during the attack, as they charged in guns blazing. However, they clearly held the advantage thanks to the surprise effect of their attack, as they managed to take down all of Kanryū's men in the area.

Three of them managed to reach the front door of the mansion and seemed ready to force it open when, to everyone's surprise (she even screamed and quickly brought her hands up to cover her mouth), a massive burst of fire came _through it_. The poor bastards never had a chance, they were roasted in seconds until nothing but their charred skeletons remained.

A sudden loud laugh followed, and an impossible large man with a giant belly came out from the doorway into the courtyard. Judging by his laugh, he was the one behind the sea of fire that had engulfed the first wave of attackers. Megumi was wondering how he could have done it when the man suddenly opened his mouth and she got her answer.

'_Impossible!'_ she thought.

Another burst of fire came out from the man's throat. It was not as large or intense as the first demonstration, but it forced the remaining attackers to retreat and regroup. The fighters carrying swords covered the ones with the rifles that were getting ready to shoot the fire-breathing man when suddenly; an extremely large flail was thrown from the roof of the mansion and crushed two more men in its trajectory.

Megumi tried to look at the direction from which the weapon came, but could discern nothing, only darkness. Still, whoever had used that giant iron ball had to be exceptionally strong…

The surviving men were now screaming loudly to each other in panic and seemed extremely nervous. It was evident that they were not expecting something like this and quickly agreeing with each other, they turned back and started to retreat to the gate as fast as they could, obviously wanting to escape. Megumi wondered if the poor bastards would be able to make it.

Evidently not.

In the middle of the courtyard, two more men fell down with a single short-lived scream when they were hit by bullets… or at least that's what Megumi thought first given how suddenly they fell to the ground, a small amount of blood coming out from their heads and staining the grass. However, she heard no detonations and the light from the gas lamps revealed little protruding objects embedded in their foreheads, darts she thought, which had been thrown with lethal precision by an invisible attacker.

Less than half of the group remained, and they froze on the spot when in front of them, the silhouette of man came out from the blue. At least it seemed like a man until it looked up and the face of a white demon greeted her and the victims of the carnage. Megumi rubbed her eyes for a moment, her spot in the mansion allowed her to fully contemplate the courtyard and she was certain that the figure, who was wearing a white _Hannya_ mask to cover his face, had _not been there_ a second ago.

Two more men went down in a second when their necks were stabbed by the cruel claws that emerged from the hands of the masked fighter. The last three of the attackers were now howling in horror; they discarded their weapons and made a mad dash to the gate, running past the masked figure that remained as still as a statue and didn't move a single muscle.

Megumi thought for a moment that the last survivors would be able to escape and maybe, just maybe, come back later with reinforcements when their path was suddenly obstructed by a single man. This time she gasped and stiffened a little by what she saw. The gas lamps revealed a tall, handsome man clad in a light brown trench coat. He seemed to be around his mid twenties and while his gaze was almost hidden by the bangs of his hair, his ice-cold blue eyes shined with an intensity she had never seen before in a person.

The tall man calmly drew a _kodachi_ that hung from his belt, hidden by his trench coat. Megumi merely stared. The small blade certainly was not as intimidating as the absurdly large flail that crushed two men like wooden dolls or the claws of the immobile masked figure. Nevertheless, the tall swordsman suddenly closed in the distance between him and his victims and his sword flashed.

Everything went still for a few moments… before a giant burst of blood came gushing from the chests of the three men who couldn't even scream as they crumbled. The surprise and speed of the attack had been so sudden they didn't even have time for that and Megumi couldn't blame them. She didn't know how the swordsman in the trench coat did it, but it had been as if from his _kodachi_, three giant large blades had been launched and cut down the poor bastards in a row with chilling precision.

The three perfectly horizontal wounds she could see in the bodies of the last bunch of attackers were the closure of the supernatural spectacle she had just witnessed. Megumi thought for an absurd moment that whoever they were, they were going to raid the mansion next, but a soft clapping and an irritating laugh that she knew all too well made her realize that it was not going to be the case.

She saw the businessman come from the ruined front door of the mansion, evidently pleased with the result of the battle.

"Just what I would expect of the former guardians of the Edo Castle", she heard Kanryū say delighted and clapping with enthusiasm, approaching the man with the icy gaze, whom, Megumi accurately deducted, was the leader of the group.

The beating of her heart got faster when she heard that and her mind immediately established the connection with the infamous ninjas. The Oniwabanshū had been an elite cadre of warriors that acted as the security guards of the Edo Castle. She thought ironically that they were pretty famous despite being supposedly a secret group. While she had no concrete details about them, as most of the stories she had heard about them were full of fantasies, she was certain that they were formidable warriors.

There couldn't be better proof of that than the carnage she had just witnessed.

When Kanryū finally reached the swordsman, he eagerly invited him to come in to have dinner in celebration of getting rid of an angry "supplier" of his. Apparently, the fool couldn't accept the fact someone else was able to provide him certain goods at a much lower price and, unfortunately, resorted to violence, reason why it was perfectly reasonable for his new associates to retaliate.

While the man in the trench coat didn't respond, he began to walk towards the mansion. For a moment however, he suddenly stopped and directed his gaze towards the window from which Megumi contemplated the battle.

The Okashira and the doctor locked their eyes for a second, but Megumi felt as if that moment lasted an eternity.

Aoshi and Megumi were formally introduced to each other by Kanryū the next morning, the businessman assuring her that with his new associates, she wouldn't have to fear anything.

And since then, Megumi had faced another difficulty that prevented her from escaping. The five members of the Oniwabanshū that began to serve Kanryū were extremely vigilant, always watching her every move and unlike the other thugs that served Kanryū, she was more than certain that they could not be manipulated; their blind loyalty to the Okashira was absolute for them.

She blushed a little remembering a particular embarrassing moment she had with Aoshi when she once attempted to seduce him, suggesting the idea to "run away together". Megumi was perfectly aware that she was a beautiful woman and that her feminine charm was enough to bring down any male to his knees and make him bark like a dog if she asked him to do so with enough honey in her voice, but Shinomori had been unfazed.

Heavens! She thought either the quiet man was made of stone or swung the other way as he didn't even move _at all_ when she wrapped him in her arms and _purred_ at his ear, suggesting with a sexy and husky voice that she would do for him things he couldn't even dream about.

He didn't respond with words, rather, he knocked her out touching a pressure point at the back of her neck.

She still didn't know if she had to feel embarrassed, relieved or angry for that. At least she was sure that her pride as a woman had been hurt for not being able to inspire even a minimal reaction from the man who, in her mind, was a walking glacier.

What irked her even more was that Aoshi acted as if nothing happened.

So she did the same and did her best to ignore his presence and those of his men.

During the last year she had tried to quietly slip away and escape a few times when she was able to go into town in order to purchase some books, with the excuse that she needed to choose and pick them up personally. However, before she could get a few blocks away, she always found her path blocked by one of the ninjas, as if mocking her, telling her that no matter what, they would always catch her.

What puzzled Megumi was that neither they nor Shinomori ever mentioned this to Kanryū. She knew that if they had done so, that asshole would have chained her long ago to the laboratory.

Were they doing that in her consideration? Or they simply thought it was not necessary to inform Kanryū of those incidents?

'_Screw them!'_ she thought sourly. She then noticed that the sky was already dark, the first stars were beginning to appear and the gas lamps from the courtyard had been lit. Megumi knew it was the signal she was waiting for to put her plan in motion.

She quietly opened the door of the library and was pleased with herself to see that the two vulgar men outside that were supposed to keep an eye on her were snoozing against the wall of the long hall, a large bottle of _sake_ and two cups between them. Despite their carelessness, Megumi didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, so approaching carefully, she took the test tube from her sleeve pocket, uncapped it and poured the sleeping concoction she had prepared using some winter cherry from her medicine cabinet and a small dose of opium into the bottle of _sake_.

If there was something she had learnt from Kanryū and the Oniwabanshū through all this time was to have an ace in the hole, and her vast herbal knowledge had become just that.

Satisfied with the result, she went back to the library, silently closing the door behind her. Even if the guards gulped the whole bottle of _sake_ in one go, it would take a while for the sleeping draught to kick in and another hour at least for its effects to fully manifest. When that happened, well, Megumi was pretty sure those two would sleep for an entire day no matter what.

And if things went right, by that time she would already be far away from this place…

OOO

It worked.

Megumi's anxiousness had been increasing to the point of almost shattering her nerves, but she did her best to regain her coolness as the hours slowly passed while she was in the library.

Near midnight, she opened the door and discovered her two watchdogs sprawled on the floor, snoring loudly. The sleeping draught along the _sake_ had done a good job and she was sure those two wouldn't wake up even in the middle of a thunderstorm. Confidently, she slipped silently out of the house.

As she expected, there was no one in the lobby. Kanryū's absence, but more importantly, the fact that the Oniwabanshū were gone too meant that the thugs and mercenaries that were supposed to protect the mansion didn't take their job seriously. Most of them after all, were jobless samurai that used the little money Kanryū kept them chained with to buy more _sake_, go gambling, to a brothel or all of the above. Still, Megumi was conscious that she had to be extra careful in the last moment of her escape; she didn't want to screw up in the most crucial part and send all of her careful planning straight to the trash.

When she opened the main door of the mansion to go into the courtyard she could only spot a single guard fast asleep under one of the gas lamps that was near the main gate. On her tiptoes, Megumi walked straight in from of him and silently drew the key hidden in her kimono. Once she introduced it, she quickly turned it and opened the metal gate with a fluid motion. The crazy thought to smash the gate to close it behind her suddenly crossed her mind, but realizing how insane that would be, she desisted in the last second and proceeded to close the gate silently with an ability that would have impressed even a professional thief.

Once she was on the road in front of the mansion, she began to giggle uncontrollably, unable to hold down the laughter anymore.

She was finally free.

She began to walk quickly. The nearest part of town was an ample residential sector where a daily vibrant market could be found. However, the place would be deserted at this hour of the night. However, near that part of town was the Shuueiya, which was supposed to be a restaurant but now served almost exclusively as a gambling hall. Surely that place would be open and she was pretty sure she would be able to ensnare one or two drunken men to borrow from them some money in order to get away as fast as possible from Tokyo. She had been debating where to go and couldn't come to a better conclusion than Niitsuru.

Once there she would pick up the pieces of her life and begin to search her family by herself.

Unable to hold back her impatience anymore, she began to run as quickly as she could.

She kept going as fast as her legs allowed her to for a good ten minutes before a few houses started to appear at the sides of the road and she spotted more and more candles and lamps in the small streets. She sighed in relief when, despite the hour, she could clearly hear the murmur of the nightlife coming from the restaurant once she finally saw it around a corner.

However, right before she could take another step, an arm of steel suddenly wrapped roughly around her and a gloved hand covered her mouth completely.

Megumi's eyes widened in horror. Could it be that after so much complications and careful planning everything would be ruined because of a drunkard who couldn't keep his pants down? She didn't want to think about it and she was damn sure she was going to put up a good fight, but then, the familiar, muffled voice she heard made her froze completely, all her will to fight suddenly escaping from her body.

"Going somewhere, Takani Megumi?" Han'nya asked, merely whispering, but to her, the words of the ninja carried the force of a thunder.

Megumi looked sideways, her eyes widening in horror when she recognized the white demon mask of the most trusted man of the Okashira right behind her. A ton of bricks hit her when she realized how naïve she had been. Of course they would never let her go, and most probably, Shinomori had been the one in charge that made her escape attempt go so smoothly in the first place, so her boosted confidence would be crushed in the last moment.

Anger and desperation swelled up inside Megumi, tears running down her eyes wildly as she began to struggle. She tried to bite the ninja's gloved hand, only to hurt her teeth in the process when she bite something cold and hard instead of flesh. Still, the move surprised Han'nya for a moment; enough for her uncover her mouth and scream with all her forces.

"HEL-!"

However, before she could even finish the single word, a strange numbness began to fill her body, making her tongue feel thick and heavy, preventing her from even whispering. She was quickly able to register that the origin of the strange, yet familiar sensation came from the same point behind her neck that Shinomori had pressed before.

Bitterness and resignation filled her mind before everything went black.

OOO

Sanosuke Sagara, better known as the street fighter Zanza, was not in a good mood.

Today's incident at the Akabeko left him itching for a good fight. Much to his disappointment; the red-headed swordsman had not accepted his challenge.

When Sanosuke saw him at first in the restaurant he decided the guy looked kinda… girly.

However, his opinion of the small swordsman quickly rose and his excitement even grew more when he saw how he shielded the girl he was eating with. A trio of idiots was discussing politics and in the middle of their nonsense, one of them threw an empty cup of _sake_. It would have smashed the nose of the girl, but instead, the swordsman received the full blow on purpose with his head.

As expected, things quickly got ugly and being the Akabeko his favorite restaurant (actually, the only one in town that still admitted him), he couldn't help but to step into scene and take the spotlight, even if the supposed "fight" that ensued had been a complete joke.

He thought for a moment that the redhead would draw his sword when a friend of the idiot that tried to fight him started to howl pathetically in the ground, crying that his arm had been broken after punching his face. Nevertheless, it seemed that he wouldn't draw his blade unless it was absolutely necessary. The guy that seemed ready to attack him with a sword almost wet himself when the red-headed swordsman pressed the pommel of his own weapon against his back and whispered a few words into his ear.

After the incident, Sanosuke was pretty sure the petite swordsman would be a worthy opponent and asked him for a fight, but the man politely refused. The fighter quickly understood that to insist would be pointless, so he said goodbye and left.

After the incident, he went to a forest at the outskirts of Tokyo, right where he left his _zanbatō_ this morning, content to see that it remained just as he remembered. Despite being a relic from the past that was probably quite valuable, he was pretty sure that due to its extraordinary weight, only he was able to pick it up in the first place, so he didn't have to worry about it being stolen ever.

In order to relieve some steam, he began to practice with it; his swings powerful and accurate, but no matter how much he kept doing them, his mind kept returning to the rare swordsman he met today.

His instincts told him there was something about special about that man, and he couldn't help but to associate him with the rumors he had heard lately about an insanely strong swordsman that recently came to town… could that be him?

After a couple of hours of swinging his massive weapon, he desisted and sighed, trying to remove today's incident from his head. Lately, he was feeling disappointed for not being able to find someone worthy to fight with his full strength and was beginning to consider moving to another city to do so.

Having nothing else to do, Sanosuke decided to take a stroll and head to the Shuueiya. At least he could have a little fun playing dice with his friends and if it was necessary, he would beat the crap out of some cheating lowlifes.

Although most probably, that wouldn't make him feel any better.

The night would have been pretty typical and uneventful for him had it not been for the guy that approached him near midnight. He was enjoying a fishbone which was what remained from his dinner when a person suddenly approached him. Sanosuke examined the small man that seemed ready to shit his pants when he quickly glanced at the massive _zanbatō_ that was resting behind him against a wall of the gambling house, wrapped in a cloth.

"A-are you Z-Zanza?" he asked nervously. Sanosuke merely nodded affirmatively, deciding that even is his reputation preceded him, he didn't want it to make people shiver in fear in front of him.

"T-this is for you", the messenger said, extending him a letter in both hands. The moment Sanosuke took it, the guy immediately ran away from the place.

Sighing, Sanosuke opened the letter and read it. It wasn't very specific; it only stated that someone called Hiruma Kihei wanted him to get rid of a strong swordsman that had recently appeared in town. In case he was interested, the letter provided a certain address where he would learn more information of the request at midnight.

After memorizing the place, he ripped to shreds the letter and remained still for a moment, pondering about the petition. He wasn't a hitman and felt the need to knock down the teeth of the asshole that wrote this letter for disregarding his pride as a fighter.

Nevertheless, he would lie if he said he wasn't interested, and his mind quickly returned to the red-headed swordsman of this afternoon. Could the letter be referring to him…?

Deciding that he had nothing to lose, he got up and decided to go to the place where the rendezvous would take place. Chances were that the job they were asking him to perform had nothing to do with his supposition; it would have been too much of a coincidence.

But if it really was about the man of the cross-shaped scar on the face of this afternoon…

"HEL-!"

A sudden scream stopped him in his tracks.

It had sounded like a woman and despite having being quickly silenced, he was pretty sure it was plea for help.

He looked back at the alleys that were connected to the main street where the gambling hall was. There were dozens of them and he could not pinpoint the exact location from where the scream had come from. He frowned, thinking that maybe, a lone woman and a drunkard too eager to have some fun were the cause of the yell he had heard.

If it was the case, then the woman maybe was in serious trouble, as the brothels were located on the other side of the city…

Sanosuke stood there, his conscience telling him that he was supposed to turn back and save whoever needed help. Yes, that was the right thing to do but…

Was it really his obligation?

He was Zanza for fuck's sake, not a goody-two-shoes! There was a reason why he carried the "Evil" word on his back!

He didn't notice his knuckles turning white due to the force with which he was gripping his weapon as his mind pondered over the situation. Besides, there was still no sign of anything out of the ordinary, not even footsteps. Only darkness.

After a good five minutes, he merely shrugged and kept walking towards his destination. This little incident and his conscience that kept protesting at him for not doing anything left a bad aftertaste in his mouth.

With himself.

He cursed and spit the fishbone on his mouth.

Sanosuke's mood had not improved at all this day and now his own inaction made him feel even angrier.

Whoever this Hiruma guy was, Sanosuke decided, he was going to need a doctor real soon if his request was absurd or ridiculous. On the other hand, if it interested him, well, he wouldn't be in the painful necessity of smashing his head with the _zanbatō_.

All he wanted to do was find a strong opponent that could push him to his limits.

Was that much too ask?

OOO

February 12th 1878

From the rooftop of the mansion, Aoshi Shinomori contemplated the empty courtyard, pondering.

The stage was almost set and most probably, he and his men would finally get the chance they had been waiting for to engrave their names in the history of Japan.

The trip of three weeks ago to Yokohama in which they accompanied Kanryū was the hint he had been waiting for and the shipment that arrived yesterday was the evidence he needed to support it.

A Gatling gun Model 1878.

It was the latest rapid-fire weapon out there. It had been so recently manufactured by the Americans that he was sure it had not been officially tested yet.

And the fact that it was here meant that after the anticlimactic end the Oniwabanshū met ten years ago, the chance he had been waiting for to demonstrate the world their strength, was finally close.

Ten years. He still remembered the excitement he felt back then, right after news from the battle of Toba-Fushimi reached the Edo castle and the Makimachi Okashira appointed him as the new leader of the Oniwabanshū. The _Ishin-shishi_ were marching straight to Edo, heading to what everybody thought was going to be the decisive battle that would change the history of Japan.

Despite the odds, Aoshi had been certain as the new main guard of the Edo Castle that victory was at the grasp of their hands. He exposed the shogunate his plan to set fire to Tokyo and amidst the confusion, capture and execute the _Ishin-shishi_ leaders. In the ensuing chaos, the fragile Chōshū-Satsuma-Tosa alliance would crumble and the rebellion would be crushed.

Unfortunately, his plan reached the ears of Katsu Kaishū, who rejected it completely and instead, surrendered the Edo Castle without putting any resistance.

When his former masters simply told him that the services of the Oniwabanshū were no longer needed, Aoshi felt betrayed and consumed by a cold rage that still burned inside him. He had lived his entire life as a warrior, and was decided to set his mark in history in a blaze of glory for the Oniwabanshū, hoping even to face the legendary Hitokiri Battousai in an epic duel, but the cowards that ruled Japan at that time stole him that opportunity.

As the new Okashira, it was not as if he could simply disregard more than three hundred years of history of the Oniwabanshū, much less dismiss his men and comrades as if nothing happened. It would have been an unforgivable affront to his predecessor, who passed away shortly after that devastating April 11th of 1868.

During those first months after the Meiji Restoration, a perplexed Aoshi and most of the Oniwabanshū members took refuge at the Aoi-Ya in Kyoto. Ironically, their base of operations was actually prospering in the new era thanks to its disguise as a mid-size inn run by Okina.

Despite his reluctance, Aoshi was not blind to the quick changes that Japan was going through at that time and he quickly understood that despite the tradition of the Oniwabanshū, if he wanted his men and the clan to survive, they would need to adapt to the new era.

And so, only a few months after returning to Kyoto, Aoshi organized a meeting for all the Oniwabanshū members in the inn, in which he performed what he considered, his sole act as Okashira.

He still remembered the anxious looks that he got from many of the _onmitsu_ that attended to the gathering. Most seemed sure that he would order them to commit suicide due to the disgrace in which the Oniwabanshū had fallen.

Even today, Aoshi still suspected that some would have preferred to kill themselves rather than hearing his painful words. He simply informed them that with the coming of the new era, they no longer needed to feel bound to the group anymore and were free to do as they pleased in order to adapt to the changing times and survive.

But with the sole condition of never forgetting that they would always be part of the Oniwabanshū.

Given that they had served the Tokugawa shogunate, it was clear that the new government wouldn't exactly welcome them, but as the last Okashira, Aoshi swore that he would do everything possible in his reach to ensure that each and every one of them found their new place in the Meiji era.

In the following days, all of the members that had decided to leave Kyoto came personally to Aoshi to bid farewell, swearing that even if the Oniwabanshū had been disbanded, their loyalty would always remain with him and if their services were required, they would not doubt to offer them instantly.

And so, many members of the Oniwabanshū dispersed through Japan to begin a new life. Others decided to explore the world, settling in countries where the governments didn't hold prejudices against them. And a few more, Aoshi included, stayed in Kyoto, working in the Aoi-Ya.

With time, Aoshi came to the realization that perhaps, his misfortune had been to serve as the head of the Oniwabanshū during a period of transition between the eras. Unable to fully exploit his potential as a warrior because one ended so suddenly and unexpectedly and in the other, there was no longer a place for someone like him.

Nevertheless, the new era meant that someone who was not chained by the ways of the past would be the one in charge of assuring that the Oniwabanshū would survive and prosper in the future.

Aoshi was sure that someone was Misao, the granddaughter of his predecessor.

Young, energetic Misao. She was so talented that she seemed to learn the art and the ways of the _onmitsu_ with the same ease with which she breathed and played games with them during their short stay at the Aoi-Ya.

Seeing her bright smile, Aoshi was sure she would eventually become their greatest leader.

In a few more years she would be ready and he would pass on the torch to her.

In the meantime, he also needed to find his own place in the world.

Multitude of Meiji officers had actually sought him in Kyoto to beg him to form part of the new, young Japanese government. Considering himself nothing but a warrior, he would have never accepted in the first place, but what irked him was that the proposals referred exclusively to him, those blockheads always disregarding the few Oniwabanshū whose loyalty made them unable to leave his side.

He could not simply abandon his most faithful men, reason why only two years later after the fall of the Edo Castle, they abandoned Kyoto in order to do what they were trained for.

To fight.

Okina had tried to stop them that snowy night, telling them that surely Misao would be very sad to see that they were gone.

"We'll be back", he told the old man. "Once we are acknowledged in the place we deserve in history, we will return, and Misao will be there to guide us".

The last time he saw him, Okina was simply shaking his head sadly.

And so, for the last eight years they had been travelling through Japan, acting as mercenaries for whoever needed their strength. Aoshi did not care if the intentions of their employers were good or bad.

All he wanted to do was to demonstrate that even in the new Meiji era; the strength of the Oniwabanshū was not something that could be simply discarded into oblivion.

Through all this time, they had served the new government in covert operations to suppress the numerous rebellions of samurai that spread through the country. However, the incompetence of the Meiji officers, along the corruption and cowards that kept plaguing the government, just like during the Tokugawa regime, made him feel disgusted. It was even worse that in the aftermath of the duties entrusted to them, the government tried to get rid of them for considering them hindrances.

The outbreak of the Satsuma Rebellion was the straw that broke the camel's back and the reason why he began to work in the criminal underworld.

At least these employers were honest about their intentions and made clear since the beginning what they expected from Aoshi and his men. Of course there was always the possibility that they would be betrayed, but that had not happened yet. In fact, their services were recommended in the criminal underworld, as the employers often only asked them to perform few specific actions, which mostly consisted of getting rid of rivals and enemies.

It was not like Aoshi was completely amoral. Deep in his mind, he knew that the world surely would be a better place without this scum. Nevertheless, most of the time it was so obvious that the government allowed these people to operate with impunity and complacency that he wanted to puke.

But after having been despised by the Meiji government for so long, it was not like he felt the urge to do it a favor and turn in all the criminal overlords they encountered. Besides, at least they provided him and his men with plenty of opponents to fight.

However, none of them had been worthy.

Their last employer noticed this and despite being a crooked individual dedicated to silk smuggling, he understood how Aoshi felt, reason why he suggested him the name of Kanryū Takeda. Apparently, he was a businessman that used the railroad industry as a cover for his opium dealing operation in Tokyo. While the drug dealing was quite profitable, rumors had reached him that Kanryū wanted to take the next step towards arms trafficking.

That, the shady man said Aoshi as farewell, was sure to catch the attention of powerful individuals that perhaps, could satisfy the search of the Oniwabanshū of a worthy opponent and the key for his group to gain the recognition it deserved.

OOO

Decided to take the opportunity, Aoshi accepted the offer Kanryū made him and his men to serve as bodyguards a year and a half ago. In truth, the Okashira had never felt so disgusted by a man before. The smug attitude of Kanryū, who even dared to ask for a "demonstration of their strength" (reason why they had to put up a show in the courtyard against a bunch of weaklings), made Aoshi think that for once, he would kill his employer after their contract ended.

Nevertheless, he had to give Kanryū credit for his business skills. Indeed, through his stupid opium operation, he was amassing capital, resources and contacts in order to venture in the business with arms, which was a whole new level.

In sum, he did think big.

Aoshi was not sure of what Kanryū's ultimate objective was, but he was certain it was something petty and that his arrogance and carelessness would get him killed before he achieved it. He did not know and he did not care. The only thing he was interested in was the fact that this little venture would attract some big fish.

Perhaps even foreigners, given the nature of the business Kanryū was aiming for.

And that would be the moment in which the Oniwabanshū would finally act to be acknowledged as they deserved.

And that moment was getting close, he could feel it in his skin. Around a month ago, Kanryū told him that an overseas individual had become interested in the "Spider's Web" and had contacted him to attend to a meeting in Yokohama, where chances to set a mutually beneficial deal were pretty high. If he was interested, he only had to bring with him a sample of the product.

He then lit a cigarette and handed to him the letter which was the invitation to said reunion at the port city of Yokohama.

Aoshi quickly read it. It had an impeccable and very professional language. If you read it out of context, the fact that this was the invitation to a meeting of men conducting illegal business would never cross anyone's mind.

At the bottom, instead of a name, the letter was signed in Chinese by the "White Tiger Trading Company", the stylized effigy of said animal serving as the background for the foreign characters.

The name told Aoshi nothing, but his excitement grew for a moment, although all the years of training and self-control he endured prevented him from showing a hint of emotion.

It seemed like even the Chinese triads got caught in the "Spider's Web".

He could not help but to feel pity that someone as capable as Takani Megumi ended up producing that venom, but that wasn't his problem.

When he first saw her, Aoshi thought that she was the wife, lover or concubine of Kanryū, but once he was able to fully appreciate her class, her accent (which told him that she was from Aizu) and most importantly, her pride; it was obvious that wasn't the case.

The still active Oniwabanshū spy network allowed him to easily learn about her circumstances and unfortunate past, elements with which he deducted correctly that she wasn't here willingly. What impressed Aoshi was the fact that she was the creator of the "Spider's Web", which meant that behind that beautiful face, Takani Megumi was also quite brilliant, a trait the Okashira knew how to appreciate.

The woman actually amused him for her stubbornness. While their interactions through all this time had been brief and unorthodox and they had prevented her from escaping quite a few times, she never showed a hint of weakness or fear in front of him or his men.

She only seemed to get irritated.

And surely, she would cook a plan to try to get away during their visit to Yokohama. Aoshi really didn't care if the woman escaped and denounced Kanryū (he doubted she would do it in the first place, as she would also be arrested), but now more than ever they needed Takani Megumi to keep producing that filth, as the special opium would be their only connection to what surely was a Chinese organization involved in gunrunning.

As the date of the meeting approached, Aoshi decided to leave Han'nya behind in order to thwart her clever escape plan. The masked ninja wasn't so eager to hear the news but he complied. Aoshi understood him, as the master of disguise would probably be able learn vital information about the Chinese company during the reunion, but losing the doctor right now wasn't a risk they could take.

That day, they travelled in train to Yokohama. The meeting, according to the letter, would take place at seven o'clock in the basement of the Yokohama International Hotel, which was mostly occupied by foreigners that came and went from Japan.

When they arrived, he was not surprised to see that the hotel had its own pier and plenty of boats were anchored in the shore near to it. A large steamship, with the flag of the "White Tiger Trading Company" waving on it, occupied the main spot.

Aoshi's suspicions were confirmed once they entered the lobby of the hotel and Kanryū handed the letter to Chinese man who was obviously expecting them. The man seemed bald at first, but a closer examination revealed that he shaved all of his hair, leaving only a long, braided pigtail at his back, reminding him for a moment of Misao. He was wearing a black _changsan_ made of silk with silver buttons and dark, baggy pants, which Aoshi suspected hid a few knives inside. On the back of his clothes, the man had embroidered with silver thread the very same tiger stamped in the letter and on the flag of the steamship. Aoshi also quickly noted that the facial features of the man were rather anonymous: nothing in particular stood out and he was sure that he would look identical to another Chinese man dressed similarly. It was probably a caution measure to pass unnoticed or to make difficult for someone to remember him. The latter sounded accurate given the kind of dealings in which the Chinese triads and mafia were involved.

Surprisingly, despite his origin, the Chinese man greeted Kanryū in perfect Japanese and asked him to accompany him down the basement.

Kanryū merely nodded, caressing the suitcase he had brought with him in which he carried a few doses of "Spider's Web".

However, the Chinese man made clear that Kanryū would have to attend to the reunion alone.

It was obvious Kanryū was not expecting this, since he began to sweat profusely, stating that he assumed that the meeting would take place in a more… open space.

Aoshi and the rest of the Oniwabanshū merely frowned. He honestly did not care if things went wrong and the scumbag was brutally murdered down there. The perpetrator would actually do him and the world a favor but before he could at least protest in order to act according to his role as a bodyguard, the Chinese man merely shrugged and stated that the other party arrived earlier and they were getting ready to start with or without Kanryū's presence.

Not even a blow at full strength of Shikijō would have had that much impact on the businessman. He seemed shocked beyond belief and almost dropped his suitcase. He looked like a complete idiot once he realized that his ego fooled him into thinking that an overseas trading company would send emissaries all the way to Japan only because of him.

Aoshi deducted that it was only natural for a Chinese trading company, especially one that screamed "triads" given the looks of the representative that was currently in front of them, to look for multiple possible partners before venturing into Japan.

Grumbling like a caged animal for the loss of face he had just suffered and the possibility that someone else left him out of the deal, Kanryū complied, not before asking Aoshi to keep his eyes open. With that, the businessman accompanied the man clad in black down a long hall which turned right, surely to a set of stairs that led to the basement.

Moments later, the manager of the hotel approached them, and nervously asked Aoshi if they would like to wait at the lounge, as surely, the reunion would extend for several hours, as usual. Aoshi declined and simply stated that they would wait outside.

The Sun had already gone down and the darkness was quickly covering the city. Given that Aoshi asked Han'nya to stay behind and watch over the resourceful Takani Megumi, he ordered Beshimi to find his way into the basement of the hotel and learn who else was attending to the reunion.

The small ninja obeyed and quickly disappeared through the rooftop of the hotel, unnoticed by anyone else.

Aoshi knew something went wrong when thirty minutes later, Beshimi still had not returned. Hyottoko and Shikijō agreed with him, as they knew that while this kind of mission was normally executed by their masked comrade, Beshimi could also carry it out perfectly thanks to his small size. In those cases, the small _onmitsu _would take no longer than a few minutes, and if he deemed that he wouldn't be able to pass unnoticed, he would have quickly returned and informed of the situation.

Nevertheless, Aoshi remained calm. In the worst case scenario surely they would have already heard something, or Kanryū would have escaped at full speed from the hotel. Maybe Beshimi found himself in a situation in which he could not make a move? It was the only logical conclusion.

His guess proved to be right three hours later. An agitated Beshimi quickly reunited with them but before he could inform them of what had happened, Kanryū approached them, a huge grin visible on his face. He simply stated that everything went smoothly. He was planning to go back to Tokyo after the meeting, but given the hour, he decided he would pass the night in this very same hotel to return tomorrow morning.

Aoshi nodded and responded that they would remain on watch.

Kanryū merely shrugged and went back to the hotel, still wearing that stupid grin on his face.

In a swift move, Aoshi and the other three Oniwabanshū disappeared from sight and gathered at the rooftop of the hotel, where the Okashira demanded Beshimi to explain himself.

The small ninja nodded. He was visibly shaken and took a few seconds to organize his ideas before he began to speak. He had been able to slip through a total of five Chinese guards, who looked identical to the one that greeted them earlier and were armed with breech-loading rifles. The stairs were connected to a small, unlit hall whose sole door gave way to the basement. As he approached, he could already hear the unintelligible voices of the men that had gathered for the reunion.

However, before he could reach the door, a sword was suddenly brought to his neck and a joyful voice greeted him from behind.

"Ah! That's far enough. I'll ask you to keep me company here; otherwise I will be forced to stain this _Kiku-ichimonji_ with your blood and that would be quite rude, don't you think?"

Beshimi felt a monstrous fear not because of how cheerful the boy (he HAD to be a boy, the voice was that of a teen!) sounded when he threatened to kill him, but because he _couldn't feel_ his presence. Despite the fact that he was right behind him ready to slit his throat, there was no killing intent, no bloodlust, no nothing! There was only the edge of the blade right under his jugular and a soft, joyful humming coming from his assailant. The fact that he could not read him or anticipate his movements _at all_ prevented him from doing anything.

Even worse was the fact that the boy had positioned himself in such a way that Beshimi couldn't even look sideways and give himself an idea of his appearance, as he was engulfed by the shadows of the unlit hall.

They stayed like that during three entire hours. Beshimi was sure that whoever was behind him, he kept smiling all the time.

When the sounds from the room next to them made evident that the reunion was about to end, Beshimi's joyful assailant returned the sword to his sheat.

"Try not to do this again for your own sake", the cheerful voice suggested. Beshimi didn't even dare to look back, sure that if he had done so, his head would have been severed, so he quickly retreated to the entrance of the hotel.

Once he finished his tale, Beshimi apologized to Aoshi for his failure, but the Okashira quickly reassured him, telling him that if anything, the mistake was his own for underestimating the other people that had been invited to the reunion. While this mysterious watchdog sounded a little too unbelievable to be true, Beshimi had no reason to lie, and even if Han'nya had accompanied them, Aoshi doubted he would have fared any better than the small ninja. In fact, he was certain that his right hand man would have sparked a confrontation given his temper and that would have been disastrous.

The sudden roar of the steamship coming to life and the crew preparing to sail distracted them for a moment. With a nod of his head, Aoshi silently ordered his men to go and quickly inspect the hotel. Amidst the deafening noise of the ship, perhaps they could learn who the master of the cheerful murderer was.

Unfortunately, as Aoshi feared, their inspection proved to be useless. Whoever the other person was (he was sure only someone else attended to the reunion besides Kanryū, the only guests of the hotel were a few Western tourists and scholars that had nothing to do with the Chinese ship), he and his watchdog were also in the steamer that was already leaving Yokohama.

Where could they be heading to?

Hong Kong?

Macau?

Mainland China?

He barely contained himself next day when Kanryū told him stupidly that there had been only another man present in the reunion but didn't bother to ask who he was. It was a Japanese man dressed in Western clothes, but they never exchanged words with each other nor they introduced themselves, as the Chinese man that received them in the lobby of the hotel held the reins of the conversation and had their full attention explaining them that the company was ready to begin the distribution of rapid-fire weapons in Japan, as long as there were customers interested in them of course.

Kanryū was extremely pleased when the Chinese man told him that the "Spider's Web" had attracted the attention of the _tai-pan_ of their trading company. The best case scenario would be to directly exchange the drug for weapons, reason why they had asked for some samples in order to properly evaluate them. In exchange, the Chinese man promised Kanryū to deliver him something of their first-class material, so both parts became convinced that they would be mutually benefitted in case they decided to establish a deal.

What seemed weird to him was that the other man, who looked more like a politician rather than a businessman, seemed equally pleased with the proposal, and the way he talked with the Chinese man indicated that they had met before.

Aoshi pondered on this fact, and decided that he would need to make use of the Oniwabanshū spy network to confirm something.

When they returned to the mansion, Han'nya explained to him that the Takani woman acted exactly as he anticipated and for once, she seemed spiritless.

Aoshi nodded and in exchange, briefly informed the masked man of the events in Yokohama. The master of disguise didn't react or say anything, but his displeasure was clear, as he had to stay behind just to make sure the stubborn woman didn't do anything foolish. Aoshi understood how Han'nya felt, and in order to compensate him, he ordered the masked ninja to contact their spy network on the subject of gunrunning and learn as much as possible of the subject.

A week later, his suspicions were confirmed thanks to the disturbing news Han'nya brought with him.

Lately, in dozens of small villages in the Hyōgo, Shiga and Aichi prefectures, the local authorities had simply… disappeared, as if the earth swallowed them without leaving a trace. Furthermore, around those areas, remains of wooden boxes with the effigy of the "White Tiger Trading Company" had been found and there were rumors that… someone was stocking American and English cutting-edge weapons.

Just like the Gatling gun that arrived yesterday. Models so advanced that not even the Japanese government owned them.

A rustle, which would have been inaudible to anyone else, brought him out of his train of thoughts. His men were here, exactly at the time he had summoned them.

"You called us, Okashira?" Han'nya asked.

Aoshi didn't even bother to turn around; he kept his gaze looking at the distance.

"Correct. I called all of you because I'm sure the moment we have been waiting for is quickly approaching", he said quietly.

Behind him, he heard his men exchange a murmur of excitement.

"The information of out spy network indicates that someone is preparing a coup". The excitement of his men was suddenly silenced by those words. Now he had their full attention. "At first, I thought that it would consist only in another unorganized rebellion by a bunch of former samurai, but the organization and secrecy of this group indicate otherwise. Besides, there's far too many coincidences which indicate that the other man that attended to the reunion in Yokohama of three weeks ago is part of that group", he concluded.

"How does our pathetic employer fits in all of this?" Shikijō asked, his arms crossed in front of his muscular chest.

"He is their scapegoat. The firearms this group is acquiring are of the same class that Kanryū wants to exchange for the opium. He is merely a diversion so by the time the Meiji government discovers the shipments of weapons that have been entering Japan, they will follow the wrong clue, since he is the most obvious suspect thanks to the "Spider's Web". Taking advantage that the fool is in the spotlight, they will make their move. What we have to find out is when and how. That way, we will be able to stop them, exposing the incompetence of the Meiji in such a way, that the Oniwabanshū will finally get the recognition we deserve", he explained.

Now this time, the _onmitsu_ gave a roar of approval.

"Therefore… Han'nya", he said, finally turning his head towards the masked figure.

"Yes, Okashira?" the master of disguise answered, eager to fulfill his next order.

"I want you to go to a certain village in the Aichi prefecture. I'm sure there you will find more concrete information regarding this matter. Its name is Shinget…" a sudden uproar coming from the courtyard interrupted him.

Annoyed by the interruption, Aoshi turned towards the courtyard, just in time to see a certain woman clad in a lavender kimono quickly dashing through the gate and heading downtown, two of Kanryū's men already in hot pursuit behind her.

Looking at her figure that was losing in the distance, Aoshi did something he rarely did.

He smirked.

The woman was really stubborn; he had to give her that. And she had more guts that many so-called warriors he had faced in the past.

"Beshimi", he called.

"Yes?" the small ninja answered with a mischievous smile in his face.

"You know what to do," Aoshi simply stated.

"Understood", Beshimi said, and he quickly disappeared from the roof in order to track down the fleeing woman.

"Where do you want me to go?" Han'nya asked his boss after the poison specialist vanished.

Aoshi didn't answer immediately. He wanted the masked man to head to Shingetsu right away and use a disguise in order to learn firsthand who was behind the strange happenings that their spy network reported.

However, the image of Takani Megumi escaping from the mansion in a rather coarse way gave him a strange feeling…

As if today's attempt to escape of the woman would be different.

"… Accompany Beshimi. But don't let him know. Only bring Takani Megumi back if you are certain that she will leave the city. Otherwise, just find out where she's hiding", he ordered.

"As you wish", answered Han'nya before he also disappeared.

Aoshi and the other two remaining Oniwabanshū contemplated the commotion down in the courtyard. He expected this foolishness to end soon so they could address more important things.

OOO

Desperate times call for desperate measures she told herself as she was running.

The way Kanryū had been looking at her ever since he came back from Yokohama gave her a bad feeling, and the giant gun that arrived yesterday to the mansion indicated that the whole opium fiasco was just going to get worse, and she couldn't endure it any longer.

So this time, instead of carefully planning her escape, she simply decided to head to gate and run away.

She almost laughed at how easy it had been to slip away from the mansion this time compared to all the preparations she went through three weeks ago. She was certain that the way the Okashira sabotaged her last escape plan had been with the intention to crush her will once and for all, but he clearly underestimated her.

No matter how, she would find a way to be free.

The rattling sound of her sandals as she ran served her to concentrate so she wouldn't get distracted by the angry voices of her pursuers.

She barely noticed that she had already crossed the market of the nearby residential area and was heading towards the Shuueiya. She had managed to lose Kanryū's men if only for a moment among the sea of people of the market, but that wouldn't last forever, and she was already exhausted.

She prayed that for once, one of those damn ninjas wasn't waiting for her around a corner.

Once again hearing the voices of her pursuers, she used her last energies to sprint to the restaurant and slid the door open.

She saw five men inside. Strangely, the mood which was supposed to be lively seemed really sour and not because of her sudden arrival. She stood for a moment in the doorway, panting. She hoped that at least one of them would stand up against her pursuers as soon as they arrived. With some luck, the ensuing brawl would give her the chance to slip away in the confusion.

As Megumi scanned the room, her gaze quickly focused in the man sitting at the back. For one moment, she thought he was a woman due to his fiery red hair, petite frame, and the rather feminine white scarf he was wearing around his neck. However, her gaze noticed his callous hands and more importantly, the sword that was lying beside him. For some reason, she took an instant liking to him, he was cute and the cross-shaped scar of his face gave him a certain air of audacity.

She didn't exactly know why, but he seemed like a gentle man that would be willing to help her.

"Please help me!" she suddenly screamed in her best dramatic voice, as she threw herself to the petite swordsman and wrapped her arms around him.

Kenshin's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets when he felt a certain part of the feminine anatomy of the beautiful woman that arrived so suddenly against his chest. This morning, after much insistence, he had finally accepted to accompany Sanosuke in order to "relax" and forget for good his fight against Jinei of a few days ago. Sure, he didn't tell him that they were going to go an illegal gambling hall, but then again he couldn't complain openly, as carrying a sword, even if it was a reverse blade, was also deemed as a crime.

In fact, as much as he hated to admit it, he had been spending a good time with Sanosuke and his friends, at least until they began to talk about opium and how the drug killed one of the fighter's acquaintances.

And now, almost immobilized by the woman that had suddenly tackled him, Kenshin was certain that ever since he arrived to Tokyo, there had never been a single dull moment.

His nose was suddenly filled with the sweet mix of lavender perfume and the sweat of the woman, intoxicating him. He needed all of his focus to regain his senses, noticing the quick beat of her heart. Judging by how desperate she looked and her actions, it was obvious that this woman was fleeing from someone and needed help.

And yet, he could only say one word.

"Oro!?"

OOO

Author notes:

The origin of this chapter was very simple: I just wanted to explore Megumi's background a little. She is one of my favorite characters in Rurouni Kenshin. Perhaps it is that air of maturity Watsuki gave her what made me like her so much, but her profession and its implications regarding Western knowledge in Japan in which the story takes place are also elements that make her a very interesting and complex character.

Regarding the chronological order of the events, as I said in the previous chapter, I assume that Kenshin arrived to Tokyo around January 10th 1878. I think a month after that date is more or less when Megumi appears in the story, mostly because the manga explicitly states that Sanosuke took two weeks to go to Kyoto in order to investigate Kenshin before fighting him (by the way, this seems like a big incongruity to me, if he went to Kyoto at the start of the story, how come he got lost on his way during the Shishio arc?), and I think that the ordeal with Jinei took a similar span of time before the police decided to contact Kenshin to help them against the assassin and their final confrontation in chapter 14 of the manga.

Anyways, as usual, I had to do some research in order to write this, mainly regarding the medical uses of some rather questionable drugs during the 19th century all over the world. With this done, I'm more than eager to write the next chapter, as it will consist in the encounter of two certain swordsmen in one of the turning points of the story. I'm sure you already know who they are, as the hints were more than evident.

*** Historical facts:

**Spider's Web**: To me, the idea that fooled Megumi in the whole fiasco with Kanryū seems to be because in the Eastern cultures, opium was used as medicine for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties despite its addictive effects. I want to think that at least someone tried to develop an analgesic from this plant through a process that could get rid of the addictive effects.

The manga never explains how the new drug created by Megumi could be twice as effective as normal using only half of the ingredients a normal dose would require. The idea I used to mix opium with tobacco leaves as the explanation came from something called madak, which was a blend of opium and tobacco used as a recreational drug between the 17th and 18th centuries in China. Madak turned out to be far more addictive than orally-ingested opium, leading to social problems in China before it was prohibited in 1729. Unfortunately, that prohibition led to the Opium Wars years later.

**Battle of Aizu**: It was fought in northern Japan in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War. After Yoshinobu Tokugawa resigned as shogun, most of Japan accepted the coming of the new era, but a couple of clans still resisted and supported Aizu, the last domain to oppose the Chōshū-Satsuma-Tosa alliance. Aizu, now fighting alone, had its forces besieged at the Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle, the seat of the Aizu domain, in October 1868. This was the start of a month-long siege. After a month of siege, Aizu officials agreed to surrender. The samurai population was sent away to prisoner of war camps, and the Aizu domain, as it had been since the mid-17th century, ceased to exist. By the way, a remnant unit of the Shinsengumi, under the command of Saitō Hajime, was present at the battle.

**Niitsuru**: It is small a village located in Ōnuma District, Fukushima. The village is located to the west of Aizuwakamatsu, city where the bulk of the Battle of Aizu took place. I just thought that Megumi, as a small girl would end up in a place like this right after the war before moving to Tokyo.

**Hanaoka Seishū**: Perhaps the most notable Japanese surgeon of the Edo period, Hanaoka was famous for combining Dutch and Japanese surgery and introducing modern surgical techniques to Japan. He was the first surgeon in Japan who dared to operate on cancers of the breast and oropharynx, to remove necrotic bone, and to perform amputations of the extremities. On October 13th 1804, Hanaoka performed a partial mastectomy for breast cancer on Kan Aiya, using tsūsensan as a general anesthetic. This is regarded today by some as the first reliable documentation of an operation to be performed under general anesthesia. Unfortunately, Hanaoka's work had no impact upon the development of general anesthesia in the rest of the world due to the national isolation policy of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the time the isolation ended in 1854, different techniques for general anesthesia had already been independently developed by American and European scientists and physicians.

**Oniwabanshū**: Literally, "Ones of the Garden". It was a group of onmitsu government-employed undercover agents established by the 8th Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune. They acted as security guards in the Edo Castle and were possibly quartered in the garden, hence the name.

**Yokohama**: It was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal Edo period. When Commodore Matthew Perry arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding that Japan open several ports for commerce, the Tokugawa shogunate agreed by signing the Treaty of Peace and Amity and the Port of Yokohama was opened on June 2nd 1859. It quickly became the base of foreign trade in Japan. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the port was developed for trading silk, the main trading partner being Great Britain. Many Western influences first reached Japan in Yokohama, including Japan's first daily newspaper (1870) and first gas-powered street lamps (1872). Japan's first railway was constructed in the same year to connect Yokohama and Tokyo.

*** Character notes:

**Megumi Takani**: The manga never states it, but I guess she is part of a samurai family, as not anyone had access to the knowledge Megumi was able to acquire since she was a child. Anyways, I wanted in this chapter to take a glimpse of who she was before meeting Kenshin. I'm not sure I managed to properly catch her attitude as I tried to show her as a hardened woman given all the tragedies that surround her. I think she would have made a better role than Kaoru as Kenshin's love interest in the original RK story given how similar they are regarding the whole guilt-redemption/atonement concept, but I guess that it precisely that reason why Watsuki decided against that idea.

**Akashi Tadao**: I don't think Megumi would have ever involved herself with Kanryū had she learned of the opium operation since the first day. In sum, she was fooled by someone who wanted to exploit her medical skills, reason why I created this character. He is based upon Akashi Hiroakira, a physician–polymath who was active in Kyoto in the late 19th century. He studied Chinese medicine, Western medicine, Dutch language, physics, chemistry and civil engineering, as well as Chinese literature and Japanese poetry. Akashi's medical theory and practice seem to have incorporated a mixture of Shintōism and the philosophy of electricity, which he regarded as the power of creation and the basic principle in the universe.

**Kanryū Takeda**: He is an incompetent bastard, but he serves, unknowingly, as the connection Saitō needed in order to learn about Shishio's faction later since I bet our police officer was also investigating who was his weapons supplier.

**Sanosuke Sagara**: If he seemed like an asshole, well it was intentional; after all, the word that is engraved at his back is not just for show. In fact, had he not met Kenshin, I think his hatred against the Meiji government would have taken him to join Shishio's faction in order to get revenge for what they did to the Sekihō Army. Had that been the case, I'm sure Saitō would have just killed him for being such a blockhead. Good thing Kenshin removed the veil of hatred from his eyes, right?

**Aoshi Shinomori**: The nature of this chapter obviously forced me to include him and the aspect I wanted to explore was the reason why he decided to work for Kanryū. I guess in the end it was because of the deception he felt for not being able to achieve the glory the Oniwabanshū deserved due to the surrender of the Edo Castle. It got even worse when it became clear that the Meiji era no longer needed him and his group. That obsession to be recognized at any cost blinded him and became the motive to associate himself with scum like Kanryū and later, Shishio. His biggest tragedy was to serve as a bridge of transition between two eras, unable to make the name of the Oniwabanshū stand out in any of them due to causes beyond his control.

By the way, most probably Watsuki didn't think that far ahead when he introduced Aoshi in the story, but once you have the whole picture, I can't help but to think that Kenshin felt A LOT of animosity against the Oniwabanshū since another bunch of ninjas kidnapped Tomoe. One of them even tells Kenshin the following: "_In the East they have the Oniwabanshū, in the West, there's the Yaminobu. Shadows behind shadows who will be satisfied with nothing less than victory!_" Perhaps Aoshi's predecessor had some kind of relation with the Dark Arts? Mmm. Anyways, I can't help but to think that the Oniwabanshū brought Kenshin some really bad memories.

*** Glossary notes:

Onmitsu: A highly trained ninja employed by his lord or the shogunate. During the Edo period, onmitsu acted as secret agents in security and espionage functions, mainly intelligence and information gathering, sometimes with aid of small groups of lower-class agents posing as mobile manual laborers. The oniwaban followed a strict set of regulations, which, in some cases, forbade them from socializing with the general public.

Okashira: Literally means "boss" or "leader".

Winter cherry: Also known as _Withania somnifera_, it is a plant that has been used as far back as ancient Mesopotamia for its medicinal and narcotic properties, particularly in order to invoke sleep.

Kodachi: Literally, "small or short sword". The length of the blade in this kind of sword is less than 60cm. The exact use of the kodachi is unknown; it may have been a companion sword similar to the wakizashi or it may have been a sword for an adolescent.

Zanbatō: Literally translates to "horse-slaying sword" or "horse-chopping saber". The real thing is nothing like what Sanosuke uses. Rather, it was an extremely long sword like the nodachi whose main purpose was to serve as an anti-cavalry weapon, however, it was deemed impractical given the length and weight of the blade.

Changsan: Male version of the body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women, the cheongsam.

Tai-pan: Literally "top class" or "big shot". The term refers to a senior business executive or entrepreneur operating in China or Hong Kong. In the nineteenth century, tai-pans were only foreign-born businessmen.


End file.
